mesquite

noun mes·quite \ mə-ˈskēt , me- \

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of mesquite

: any of several spiny leguminous trees or shrubs (genus Prosopis and especially P. glandulosa) chiefly of the southwestern U.S. that often form extensive thickets and have sweet pods eaten by livestock; also : the wood of the mesquite used especially in grilling food

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Recent Examples of mesquite from the Web

While your access to different types of wood may dramatically change your choice (there isn’t much mesquite back East, for example), Wolf looks for two general criteria when choosing fuel.

— joe jackson, Outside Online, "Do You Really Know How to Cook Over a Fire?," 1 June 2018
Sprinkled with Saguaros, mesquites and ironwood trees, the course offers great rates year-round with plenty of natural desert beauty.

— brian sodoma, azcentral, "Professional designs, desert beauty, make Tucson golf a winner," 31 May 2018
That especially applies to the vegetation as anyone who has tangled with catclaw, backed into a tasajillo or hopped on one leg when a mesquite thorn poked all the way through a boot sole and punctured a foot will attest.

— shannon tompkins, Houston Chronicle, "Rattlers and ticks part of spring turkey hunting," 8 Apr. 2018
To those unfamiliar with this remote part of the country, the roughly 100-mile stretch of Rio Grande Valley poses an uninviting landscape of thorny scrub, cactus, mesquite and sawgrass.

— james f. mccarty, cleveland.com, "Eco-tourists enjoy Rio Grande Valley as threat of a border wall threatens habitat," 15 Apr. 2018
McConaughey and master distiller Eddie Russell have collaborated to launch Wild Turkey Longbranch, a new bourbon that’s filtered with Texas mesquite and oak charcoals.

— chris morris, Fortune, "Matthew McConaughey Jumps Into the Bourbon Business," 11 Apr. 2018
Elote Cafe Spicy Anasazi Beans with heritage barley and mesquite cornbread.

— dominic armato, azcentral, "Here are the best dishes of the 2018 Devour Culinary Classic," 4 Mar. 2018
The coffee table — an old slab of mesquite — was one of Janie's woodworking projects, and her stained glass work and metal mobiles glint in several rooms.

— andrea galyean, azcentral, "Decades of Arizona artists have called Scottsdale Cattle Track Arts Compound home," 15 Mar. 2018
Near County Road 224 and U.S. 181, on land strewn with junked cars, barbed wire, mesquite trees and remnants of railroad tracks, Plauchet and Ivo spent nearly three hours into breaking dawn looking for Puente and his girlfriend, Jenevieve Ramos.

— bruce selcraig, San Antonio Express-News, "Arrest in police officer’s killing described at capital murder trial," 8 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'mesquite.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Illustration of mesquite

Origin and Etymology of mesquite

American Spanish, from Nahuatl mizquitl

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1759

in the meaning defined above

See Words from the same year

Mesquite

geographical name Mes·quite \ mə-ˈskēt , me- \

Definition of Mesquite

city in northeastern Texas east of Dallas population 139,824

MESQUITE Defined for English Language Learners

mesquite

noun

Definition of mesquite for English Language Learners

: a tree or bush that grows in the southwestern U.S. and Mexico and that has a hard wood which is often used in grilling food because of the special flavor produced by its smoke; also : the wood of the mesquite