sagebrush

American  

[seyj-bruhsh] / ˈseɪdʒˌbrʌʃ /

noun

1. 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.

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sagebrush British  

/ ˈseɪdʒˌbrʌʃ /

noun

1. 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)

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Etymology

Origin of sagebrush

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35; sage ² + brush ²

Example Sentences

The West had a “foreboding beauty”; wheat fields and orchards gave way to “unforgiving” sagebrush and treeless hills.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

Initially they thought they would focus on native succulents and cactus for their yard until they began noticing white sage, buckwheats and sagebrush when they went running in the Laguna Hills and Santa Ana Mountains.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 26, 2025

LEE VINING, Calif. — At a trailhead surrounded by sagebrush, a naturalist welcomes a group of visitors to Mono Lake beside a sign that reads “Oasis in the Desert.”

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2025

The park offers ancient bristlecone pine forests, incredible night skies, scenic foothills covered in sagebrush, the stunning 13,063-foot Wheeler Peak and the mysterious Lehman Caves.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 3, 2024

I found the perfect hiding place, a small tool shed behind a clump of sagebrush that no one had hid in before.

From "The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls