Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

screw pine

American  

noun

  1. any tropical Asian tree or shrub of the genus Pandanus, having a palmlike or branched stem, long, narrow, rigid, spirally arranged leaves and aerial roots, and bearing an edible fruit.


screw pine British  

noun

  1. any of various pandanaceous plants of the Old World tropical genus Pandanus, having a spiral mass of pineapple-like leaves and heavy conelike fruits

"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

Etymology

Origin of screw pine

First recorded in 1830–40

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Smoked beef cheek dumplings are a house specialty, and the cocktail offerings include the pandan colada, made with brilliant-green screw pine leaves.

From Washington Post • Aug. 18, 2021

The mid-rib of the screw pine growing in the forests of tropical America furnishes the material of which "Panama" hats are made.

From Commercial Geography A Book for High Schools, Commercial Courses, and Business Colleges by Redway, Jacques W. (Jacques Wardlaw)

Cycas revoluta, Dracœna fragans and others, palms, cannas, Farfugium grande, achyranthes, ferns, araucarias, epiphyllums, pandanus or "screw pine," Pilea arborea, Ficus elastica, Grevillea robusta.

From Manual of Gardening (Second Edition) by Bailey, L. H. (Liberty Hyde)

Among the other materials may be enumerated the odorous roots of the khus-khus grass, Anatherum muricatum, and the leaves of various species of screw pine, used in India and the East generally.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 3, Part 1, Slice 3 "Banks" to "Bassoon" by Various

Pandanus utilis.—The screw pine of the Mauritius, where it is largely cultivated for its leaves, which are manufactured into bags or sacks for the exportation of sugar.

From Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture by Saunders, William