sagebrush

[ seyj-bruhsh ]

/ ˈseɪdʒˌbrʌʃ /

noun

any of several sagelike, bushy composite plants of the genus Artemisia, especially A. tridentata, having silvery, wedge-shaped leaves, with three teeth at the tip, common on the dry plains of the western U.S.

Nearby words

Origin of sagebrush

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; sage² + brush²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sagebrush

The largest objects within a quarter of a mile were a few stunted bunches of sagebrush.
Watched by Wild Animals|Enos A. Mills
They stepped out from among the ruins of their sagebrush booth upon a patch of hard, bare earth close to the railroad track.
Deserted|Edward Bellamy
Stretches of sagebrush desert reached in every direction from it.
Added Upon|Nephi Anderson
A half hour here would sustain them against the three miles of sagebrush beyond.
Virginia of Elk Creek Valley|Mary Ellen Chase

The Queres smell of the earth in which they dig and house, but the Diné smelled of himself and the smoke of sagebrush.
The Trail Book|Mary Austin

British Dictionary definitions for sagebrush

sagebrush

/ (ˈseɪdʒˌbrʌʃ) /

noun

any of several aromatic plants of the genus Artemisia, esp A. tridentata, a shrub of W North America, having silver-green leaves and large clusters of small white flowers: family Asteraceae (composites)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for sagebrush

sagebrush

1850, from sage (n.1), to which it has no biological affinity, + brush (n.2). Said to be so called for resemblance of its appearance or odor.

Sage-brush is very fair fuel, but as a vegetable it is a distinguished failure. Nothing can abide the taste of it but the jackass and his illegitimate child, the mule. ["Mark Twain," "Roughing It"]