yucca

noun

yuc·​ca ˈyə-kə 

1

: any of a genus (Yucca) of sometimes arborescent plants of the asparagus family that occur in warm regions chiefly of western North America and have long sword-shaped often stiff fibrous-margined leaves on a usually woody base and bear a large panicle of white blossoms

2

: cassava

Illustration of yucca

Examples of yucca in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Price Chopper, off of K-7 in Olathe 175 N. Parker St., Olathe 16 priority and priority foundation violations for a Nov. 12 standardization inspection The inspector found moldy strawberries and yucca at this Olathe grocery store. —Eleanor Nash, Kansas City Star, 21 Nov. 2025

The voices are just a low hum, like the bees in false yucca or poppy mallow. —Karl Kirchwey, The New York Review of Books, 13 Nov. 2025

Without the income from migrants at his store, Chango Rosales said, he's gone back to his first occupation: growing corn, yucca and bananas on his farm. —Daniel Gonzalez, AZCentral.com, 5 Nov. 2025

The 32 basket and gourd artworks by 14 artists are made from nature, out of materials ranging from willow, grasses and yucca to rushes. —Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Spanish yuca, of unknown origin

First Known Use

1664, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for yucca

• plica
• pucca

Kids Definition

yucca

noun

yuc·​ca ˈyək-ə 

: any of a genus of plants that are related to the agaves, grow in warm dry regions mostly of western North America, have long pointed often stiff leaves, and produce a tall stiff stalk with whitish flowers