: any of a genus (Camassia and especially C. quamash) of plants of the lily family chiefly of the western U.S. with edible bulbs compare death camas
Examples of camas in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Native Americans built lives around fishing and the seasonal harvest of camas roots and huckleberries.
—
Kirk Johnson, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2022
One of them—a tapeworm Gardner fished out of a camas pocket gopher—turned out to be a species new to science.
—Amy Brady, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2022
Instead, the small museum space is filled with wall-length images of local natural places, like quiet rivers or meadows strewn with camas lilies.
—oregonlive, 26 Feb. 2022
In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, annual bouts of fall fire created veldts, typically 10 to 20 acres in size, of nearly pure camas lily, which have tasty roots that Kalapuya families gathered and stored for winter.
—Kiliii Yüyan, History & Culture, 17 Dec. 2020
Nez Perce National Historical Park works with high school students to monitor the park's camas lilies.
—Eva Lewandowski, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2016
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Kirk Johnson, New York Times, 21 Oct. 2022
One of them—a tapeworm Gardner fished out of a camas pocket gopher—turned out to be a species new to science.
—Amy Brady, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2022
Instead, the small museum space is filled with wall-length images of local natural places, like quiet rivers or meadows strewn with camas lilies.
—oregonlive, 26 Feb. 2022
In Oregon’s Willamette Valley, annual bouts of fall fire created veldts, typically 10 to 20 acres in size, of nearly pure camas lily, which have tasty roots that Kalapuya families gathered and stored for winter.
—Kiliii Yüyan, History & Culture, 17 Dec. 2020
Nez Perce National Historical Park works with high school students to monitor the park's camas lilies.
—Eva Lewandowski, Discover Magazine, 11 Aug. 2016
Cite this Entry
“Camas.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/camas. Accessed 6 Sep. 2025.
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