sagebrush

noun

sage·​brush ˈsāj-ˌbrəsh 

: any of several North American hoary composite subshrubs (genus Artemisia)

especially : one (A. tridentata) having a bitter juice and an odor resembling sage and often covering vast tracts of alkaline plains in the western U.S.

Examples of sagebrush in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Aircraft were ready for an increase in fire activity, especially on the canyon edges, where the fire could spread into grass and sagebrush at lower elevations, according to the management team. —Rey Covarrubias Jr, AZCentral.com, 26 July 2025

Then, northeast of the city near a place called Dry Lake, on a valley slope tilted toward the rising sun and dotted with sagebrush and red barrel cacti, MGM teamed up with a solar energy company to build an array of 322,000 panels. —Max Bearak, New York Times, 24 June 2025

The number of wild burros roaming pine forests and sagebrush fields has grown in recent years, with experts worried that the miniature beasts of burden could overwhelm rare and endangered species of plants. —Annie Goodykoontz, Los Angeles Times, 18 June 2025

Tucked into the wide expanse of south-central Wyoming, where the Snowy Range rises from the sagebrush and the sky looms, is Brush Creek Ranch. —Evie Carrick, Travel + Leisure, 29 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sagebrush

• underbrush
• airbrush
• hairbrush
• inrush
• onrush
• paintbrush
• blush
• brush
• crush
• flush
• gush
• hush

Kids Definition

sagebrush

noun

sage·​brush ˈsāj-ˌbrəsh 

: any of several low shrubby North American plants related to the daisies

especially : a common plant with a bitter juice that smells like sage and is widespread on the plains of the western U.S.