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
It’s three miles from there to State Route 92, a trek through mesquite and grassland, floodplains and furrows that serve as a rough-hewn pathway to the two-lane blacktop and the interior that lies beyond.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2025
La Casa looms above a mostly flat landscape dotted with mesquite bushes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2024
It would also go well with a grilled steak or another fatty meat with mesquite aroma.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
Late that night Matt sat by the fire and smelled the good mesquite smoke as it spiraled up into the starry sky.
From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer
Judy Moreland, of Mesquite, Texas, isn’t happy that her Medicare Advantage plan will no longer be offered next year.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
The No. 2 company on the list, Hithium, opened a factory last year in Mesquite, Texas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The new General Dynamics facility in Mesquite, Texas, will make 30,000 each month once it reaches its full capacity.
From New York Times ● May 29, 2024
Alejandro Rodriguez, 25, in Mesquite, Texas, also relished being able to help his 48-year-old mother, a Mexican immigrant, achieve her “American dream,” after years of moving around in rentals during his childhood.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
“It’s all dead,” he said, forgetting in his fluency what he had told me about Seven-Mile Mesquite and last October.
From Red Men and White by Frederic Remington
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