saguaro

American  

[suh-gwahr-oh, -wahr-oh] / səˈgwɑr oʊ, -ˈwɑr oʊ /

noun

• saguaros
  plural

1. a tall, horizontally branched cactus, Carnegiea (orCereus ) gigantea, of Arizona and neighboring regions, yielding a useful wood and bearing an edible fruit: still locally common, though some populations have been reduced.

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saguaro British  

/ səˈɡwɑːrəʊ, səˈwɑːrəʊ, səˈwɑː- /

noun

1. a giant cactus, Carnegiea gigantea, of desert regions of Arizona, S California, and Mexico, having white nocturnal flowers and edible red pulpy fruits

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• saguaros
  plural

Etymology

Origin of saguaro

1855–60, < Mexican Spanish saguaro, sahuaro, said to be < Opata (now extinct Uto-Aztecan language of Sonora)

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

saguaro saguaros

Hiking through Sabino Canyon beneath towering saguaro cactuses, the empty trails felt vast and lonely.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

Many saguaro cactuses in Arizona’s Sonora Desert were toppled during construction, and in some areas at least half of those transplanted elsewhere later died.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 7, 2023

But it’s been worth it for the desert’s charms: the temperate winters and the cholla and saguaro growing on the hillsides — even as the city gets hotter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2023

Arizona's saguaro cacti, a symbol of the U.S.

From Reuters ● Jul. 27, 2023

He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

From "The Titan's Curse" by Rick Riordan

Dozens of cars, some with their trunks opened to display camera equipment, were parked in the shadows of 30-foot saguaros.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

Huachuca base sat another former shipping container, this one occupied by a drone pilot and a camera operator, who pivoted the drone’s camera to scan 9 square miles of shrubs and saguaros for the migrants.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2025

“So part of our thinking is that there are still saguaros today that were compromised from what they went through in 2020. And that this could be sending them over the edge.”

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 2, 2023

The cultural shift began years ago in Phoenix, and many residents now take pride in their saguaros and palo verde trees, and post snapshots of bobcats and roadrunners in their yards.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 20, 2023

The desert seems to be a brown wasteland of dry, prickly scrub whose only purpose is to serve as a setting for the majestic saguaros.

From "Stargirl" by Jerry Spinelli