oil palm

noun

Definition of oil palm

: an African pinnate-leaved palm (Elaeis guineensis) cultivated for its clustered fruit whose flesh and seeds yield oil

Examples of oil palm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Other than cassava and oil palm, all are important U.S. crops. — Deepak Ray, The Conversation, "Climate change is affecting crop yields and reducing global food supplies," 9 July 2019 The more fortunate are marooned on small islands of trees among oil palms. — Hannah Beech, New York Times, "One Casualty of the Palm Oil Industry: An Orangutan Mother, Shot 74 Times," 29 June 2019 Discovered poking around an oil palm plantation in 2008, Tam was captured and transferred to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in the state of Sabah. — Jason Bittel, National Geographic, "Last male Sumatran rhino in Malaysia dies," 27 May 2019 More than 10 percent of the Indonesian population lives below the poverty line, and the country wants to build 3 million hectares of oil palm and sugar plantation in Papua. — Nithin Coca, Vox, "The most important country for the global climate no one is talking about," 6 Dec. 2018 Currently, Southeast Asia is the oil palm hotspot, and the deforestation and ensuing damage in the region have been well publicized. — Cathleen O'grady, Ars Technica, "African palm oil expansion is bad news for the continent’s primates," 17 Aug. 2018 Large portions of tropical forests and carbon-rich peatlands are being cleared in southeast Asia, Africa and Latin American to make way for oil palm plantations. — David Carrig, USA TODAY, "What is palm oil, and why did grocery chain Iceland pull it? The controversy, explained," 10 Apr. 2018 Wetlands continue to be destroyed in Southeast Asia and the Congo region of Africa, mainly to plant oil palm. — National Geographic, "75% of Earth's Land Areas Are Degraded," 26 Mar. 2018 Much of their tropical rainforest homelands are being cleared to make way for oil palm plantations. — Ralph Steadman, Discover Magazine, "Where the Wild Things Aren't," 1 Mar. 2018

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

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Last Updated

26 Jul 2019

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The first known use of oil palm was in 1850

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