Illustration of prickly pear
- prickly pear 1
prickly pear
noun
1
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
Examples of prickly pear in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Create a prickly pear cactus one day, a jade plant the next, or round out your night by assembling a fun Venus fly trap.
—
Alida Nugent, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
Dae Fairy Duster Dry Shampoo $30 Dae Hair A favorite of both the Glamour beauty team and among hair professionals, this powder dry shampoo works overtime to not only absorb grease but also to deliver shine and softness to the hair with prickly pear seed oil.
—Clare Holden, Glamour, 4 Apr. 2024
Barrel cactuses are planted by fuzzy gray old man hairy cactus, which have a place by climbing aloe or jade or prickly pear cactuses.
—Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2024
The prickly pear pie is made by Garrett Rohwer, owner of Margie's Kitchen.
—The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024
Catching up on kids and work over lattes and lemon-ricotta pancakes gave way to reminiscing about our mom over prickly pear margaritas at the onsite Hummingbird restaurant.
—Katie James Watkinson, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Jan. 2024
For the eggnog fans, the holiday classics menu does include the controversial drink as well as a prickly pear margarita with jalapeño and a holiday gin and tonic.
—Fritz Hahn, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2023
The gaudy purple of the hedgehogs; the yellow, orange and peach of the prickly pears; and finally the ivory cream of the saguaros add their own touch of drama.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 24 Feb. 2024
The petite plant kit has nine different types of tropical plants in Lego brick format that result in a collection of prickly pears, jade plants, and Venus flytraps, popping out of terracotta-reminiscent pots.
—Melissa Epifano, EW.com, 3 Feb. 2024
Alida Nugent, Peoplemag, 10 Apr. 2024
Dae Fairy Duster Dry Shampoo $30 Dae Hair A favorite of both the Glamour beauty team and among hair professionals, this powder dry shampoo works overtime to not only absorb grease but also to deliver shine and softness to the hair with prickly pear seed oil.
—Clare Holden, Glamour, 4 Apr. 2024
Barrel cactuses are planted by fuzzy gray old man hairy cactus, which have a place by climbing aloe or jade or prickly pear cactuses.
—Caron Golden, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 Mar. 2024
The prickly pear pie is made by Garrett Rohwer, owner of Margie's Kitchen.
—The Arizona Republic, 12 Mar. 2024
Catching up on kids and work over lattes and lemon-ricotta pancakes gave way to reminiscing about our mom over prickly pear margaritas at the onsite Hummingbird restaurant.
—Katie James Watkinson, Condé Nast Traveler, 26 Jan. 2024
For the eggnog fans, the holiday classics menu does include the controversial drink as well as a prickly pear margarita with jalapeño and a holiday gin and tonic.
—Fritz Hahn, Washington Post, 6 Dec. 2023
The gaudy purple of the hedgehogs; the yellow, orange and peach of the prickly pears; and finally the ivory cream of the saguaros add their own touch of drama.
—Roger Naylor, The Arizona Republic, 24 Feb. 2024
The petite plant kit has nine different types of tropical plants in Lego brick format that result in a collection of prickly pears, jade plants, and Venus flytraps, popping out of terracotta-reminiscent pots.
—Melissa Epifano, EW.com, 3 Feb. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prickly pear.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1696, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Dictionary Entries Near prickly pear
Cite this Entry
“Prickly pear.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prickly%20pear. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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Kids Definition
prickly pear
noun1
: any of numerous cacti with spines and usually flat stem segments
2
: the pear-shaped sweet edible pulpy fruit of a prickly pear
More from Merriam-Webster on prickly pear
Nglish: Translation of prickly pear for Spanish Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about prickly pear
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