pinyon

noun

pin·yon

variant spelling of piñon

: any of various small pines (such as Pinus quadrifolia, P. cembroides, P. edulis, and P. monophylla) of western North America with edible seeds

also : the edible seed of a piñon

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web Although pinyon pine and juniper trees dot the San Juan Basin, those species tend to sprout chaotically, often with multiple stems and twisting branches. —

Smithsonian Magazine, 17 Apr. 2023 One of the two signature gins features lavender — the star crop of the farm and a key ingredient in Los Poblanos soaps and lotions — while the other, called Western Dry, is made from botanicals of the Rio Grande Valley such as pinyon, rose and chamomile. —

Gisela Williams Enrique Giner De Los Ríos M.h. Miller Ryan Haase Ruby Sutton Jameson Montgomery, New York Times, 19 Apr. 2023 Birds there are critical in dispersing seeds of the Colorado pinyon pine. —

Wudan Yan, Popular Mechanics, 5 Jan. 2023 Woodhouse’s scrub-jay and the pinyon — and large flocks of chatty, yellow-streaked pine siskins. —

Elaine Glusac, New York Times, 3 Dec. 2022 Steep canyon walls climb up to 1,000 feet, with trails like the 8.8-mile West Clear Creek Trail, which weaves through a pinyon-freckled plateau and four creek crossings. —

Stephanie Vermillion, Outside Online, 26 July 2021 In the case of pinyon and juniper trees, the problem was likely a lack of animals to disperse seeds. —

ABC News, 18 Apr. 2021 About half those acres saw mechanical treatments, typically involving the removal of pinyon and juniper, while the rest were split between prescribed burning and chemical treatments. —

Brian Maffly, The Salt Lake Tribune, 10 Sep. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pinyon.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.