any of several usually spiny trees or shrubs belonging to the genus Prosopis, of the legume family, as P. juliflora or P. glandulosa, of western North America, having bipinnate leaves and beanlike pods and often forming dense thickets.
the wood of such a tree or shrub, used especially in grilling or barbecuing food.
any of various similar or related plants.
1830–40, < Mexican Spanish mezquite < Nahuatl mizquitl
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Birds sing among dense copses of mesquite trees; flowers hang heavily from bushes; ocelots and jaguars pass through.
From Slate • May 26, 2025
La Casa looms above a mostly flat landscape dotted with mesquite bushes.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 27, 2024
California’s groundwater-dependent ecosystems lie not only along streams, but also in habitats such as mountain meadows, coastal redwood forests and mesquite bushes among desert sand dunes.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2024
“We also uncovered a series of hearths, or community campsites, with remnants of mesquite charcoal, which is a tremendous find in and of itself,” Cuba said.
From Seattle Times • Apr. 2, 2024
The slope of the hill rose gradually into the hills of juniper and mesquite and cedar clumps.
From "Bless Me, Ultima" by Rudolfo Anaya
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
