prickly pear

noun

1

or prickly pear cactus : opuntia

especially : an opuntia with flattened, usually paddle-shaped, jointed stem segments compare cholla, nopal

2

or prickly pear fruit : the pulpy, pear- or egg-shaped, edible, yellow to purplish-red fruit of various prickly pears (such as Opuntia ficus-indica) see tuna entry 2

Illustration of prickly pear

• prickly pear 1

Examples of prickly pear in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Key Ingredients: Bolivian mountain salt, papaya enzymes, prickly pear extract Best For: Getting rid of scalp build-up, sans residue. —Arden Fanning Andrews, Vogue, 4 Mar. 2025

Orchard Hills’ zone is filled with prickly pear cacti, Japanese honeysuckle and Formosa firethorn. —Jack Flemming, Los Angeles Times, 19 Feb. 2025

Its origins can be traced back thousands of years to pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, appearing in Mayan glyphs and documented in 16th-century accounts by Spanish missionaries in Central Mexico, who recorded tamales made with axolotl, tuna cactus (prickly pear), fish, and rabbit, among other variations. —Cat Cardenas, Southern Living, 30 Nov. 2024

What’s more, it’s infused with prickly pear and aloe vera to soothe and repair skin. —Kiana Murden, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1696, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for prickly pear

• aftercare
• anywhere
• billionaire
• chinaware
• debonair
• dinnerware
• disrepair
• doctrinaire
• earthenware
• everywhere
• frigidaire
• kitchenware

Kids Definition

prickly pear

noun

1

: any of numerous cacti with spines and usually flat stem segments

2

: the pear-shaped sweet edible pulpy fruit of a prickly pear