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creosote bush
noun
: a resinous desert shrub (Larrea tridentata) of the caltrop family found in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico
Examples of creosote bush in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Perhaps you’ll be inspired by local scents, like the smell of creosote bushes, which have an earthy brightness after a light rain.
—Lucky Benson, New York Times, 14 Dec. 2023
That’s 1,000 years older than a 12,000-year-old Palm Springs creosote bush that was previously thought to be the oldest plant in California, 8,000 years older than bristlecone pines, and 10,000 years older than the redwoods, according to a study by UC Davis and UC Riverside scientists.
—Louis Sahagún, Los Angeles Times, 6 Nov. 2023
The oldest clone with a firm age is an 11,700-year-old creosote bush (researchers were able to date it by measuring the rate at which its circle expands).
—Michael C Grant, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Overgrazing degraded the rangelands, and mesquite and creosote bushes crowded out native grasses.
—Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 18 Sep. 2023
Towering saguaro cactuses are collapsing from the heat, and the agaves, creosote bushes and stubby barrel cactuses that spangle highways are turning yellow.
—Jack Healy, New York Times, 31 July 2023
There was just a sliver of moon that night, and in the video, their flashlights barely penetrate a ghostly landscape of outdoor furniture, creosote bushes, and cactuses.
—Jack Healy, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Aug. 2023
The tortoise in the coal mine Biologist Bre Moyle easily spotted the small yellow flag affixed to a scraggly creosote bush — one of many hardy plants sprouting from the caliche soil, surrounded by rows of gleaming steel trusses that would soon hoist solar panels toward the sky.
—Sammy Roth, Anchorage Daily News, 2 July 2023
There, just west of the jagged White Tank Mountains, earth movers had cleared away creosote bushes to make way for the first homes of a new development called Teravalis, which aspires to build 100,000 homes and 55 million square feet of commercial space.
—Jack Healy, New York Times, 9 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'creosote bush.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1846, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near creosote bush
Cite this Entry
“Creosote bush.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/creosote%20bush. Accessed 26 Apr. 2024.
Kids Definition
creosote bush
noun
: a desert shrub of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico with small yellow flowers
More from Merriam-Webster on creosote bush
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about creosote bush
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