saguaro

[ suh-gwahr-oh, -wahr-oh ]

noun

, plural sa·gua·ros.

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

saguaro

/ səˈwɑː-; səˈɡwɑːrəʊ; səˈwɑːrəʊ /

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of saguaro¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of saguaro¹

Mexican Spanish, variant of sahuaro, an Indian name

Example Sentences

Those are saguaro cactuses…the big ones…birds make holes in them and build their nests inside.

From The Daily Beast

The little unincorporated community sits in a lonely stretch of hot desert amidst black rocks and saguaro cactuses.

From The Daily Beast

On her other side was a wizened little old fellow with a wrinkled face and ribs corrugated like a saguaro.

From Project Gutenberg

The saguaro has a skeleton of woody ribs bound together by tough, woody fibers.

From Project Gutenberg

Their packs bore tanned skins, fruit of the saguaro cactus, edible roots of the mescal plant, and other trade goods.

From Project Gutenberg

At last the older boy said, "I will turn into a saguaro, so that I shall live forever and bear fruit every summer."

From Project Gutenberg

That is how the saguaro and the palo verde came to be on the mountains and the desert.

From Project Gutenberg