pickleweed
noun
pick·le·weed
ˈpi-kəl-ˌwēd 
: any of several succulent plants having leaves often reduced to scales or sheaths: such as
a
b
: a shrub (Allenrolfea occidentalis) of the amaranth family growing in moist saline soils of the southwestern U.S.
c
Examples of pickleweed in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The recipe calls for ingredients like East Bay pickleweed, also referred to as sea beans, which can be found at specialty grocers like Berkeley Bowl and select Whole Foods locations.
—
Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023
If left unmanaged, pickleweed would quickly dominate these wetlands, which happen to be an important breeding ground for Hawaiian stilts, a leggy shorebird and one of the 11 endangered species that calls this base home.
—Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2022
As heat and drought set in, the freshwater dried up and forced the ancients to survive by plucking tiny seeds from desert shrubs called pickleweed.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Nov. 2020
The land transitions from muddy carpet for tiptoeing egrets to a rippling watery habitat at high tide studded with mounds of native grasses and pickleweed.
—Julie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Oct. 2021
Native plants like the Pacific cordgrass and pickleweed provide the muscle for sea level rise adaptation, said John Callaway, a wetlands restoration ecologist at the University of San Francisco.
—Julie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Oct. 2021
Yet until recently, sea beans, which belong to the genus Salicornia and are also known as samphire, glasswort, pickleweed, and sea asparagus, had never figured prominently in Charleston’s storied culinary traditions.
—Caroline Hatchett, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2021
Water slowly snakes inland to flood the ground peppered with plugs of native pickleweed seeds, and ducks dive for emerging aquatic bugs.
—National Geographic, 13 June 2017
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Krista Simmons, Sunset Magazine, 6 Apr. 2023
If left unmanaged, pickleweed would quickly dominate these wetlands, which happen to be an important breeding ground for Hawaiian stilts, a leggy shorebird and one of the 11 endangered species that calls this base home.
—Ashley Stimpson, Popular Mechanics, 31 Aug. 2022
As heat and drought set in, the freshwater dried up and forced the ancients to survive by plucking tiny seeds from desert shrubs called pickleweed.
—The Salt Lake Tribune, 30 Nov. 2020
The land transitions from muddy carpet for tiptoeing egrets to a rippling watery habitat at high tide studded with mounds of native grasses and pickleweed.
—Julie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Oct. 2021
Native plants like the Pacific cordgrass and pickleweed provide the muscle for sea level rise adaptation, said John Callaway, a wetlands restoration ecologist at the University of San Francisco.
—Julie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle, 29 Oct. 2021
Yet until recently, sea beans, which belong to the genus Salicornia and are also known as samphire, glasswort, pickleweed, and sea asparagus, had never figured prominently in Charleston’s storied culinary traditions.
—Caroline Hatchett, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Mar. 2021
Water slowly snakes inland to flood the ground peppered with plugs of native pickleweed seeds, and ducks dive for emerging aquatic bugs.
—National Geographic, 13 June 2017
Cite this Entry
“Pickleweed.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pickleweed. Accessed 24 Jun. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share