sugar pine

noun

plural sugar pines
: a very tall pine (Pinus lambertiana) found from Oregon to Baja California and having needles in clusters of five, cones up to 18 inches (46 centimeters) long, and soft reddish-brown wood
also : its wood

Examples of sugar pine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Conifers reproduce intermittently — and this seems to be a banner year for Ponderosa pine, sugar pine and Jefferey pine. Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2024 Others, such as Sierra Nevada’s sugar pine, demand 16 weeks. Between February and May, the seeds wake up from their slumber, germinate and sprout. Lisa M. Krieger, The Mercury News, 9 Sep. 2024 Few places have an abundance and diversity of pines like the West Coast: Monterey and bishop, white pines, bristlecone, pinyon and sugar pines are all on the table. Michael J. Coren, Washington Post, 23 July 2024 Along 12 acres of the King Fire site, Wright and her team had planted two kinds of pine: ponderosa—which grow up to 200 feet tall with thick, striated bark—and a type of sugar pine resistant to white pine blister rust, a fungus decimating western sugar pines. Lauren Markham, Wired, 9 Oct. 2021 In California’s Sierra Nevada mountain range, ponderosa pines, sugar pines and Douglas firs stand tall. Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 10 Mar. 2023 The men planted ponderosa and sugar pine, also pieces of the area’s original forest, alongside the sequoias. Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Apr. 2022 Rising temperatures, drought, beetles and massive blazes have taken a staggering toll on the state’s most iconic trees, such as sugar pine and giant sequoia. San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Aug. 2021 The dining room will be decked out in sugar pine, custom brass chandeliers and dark reclaimed redwood, as designed by Studio Terpeluk, the same San Francisco outfit responsible for popular restaurants such as Liholiho Yacht Club. Janelle Bitker, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 June 2021

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sugar pine.' 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

1846, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sugar pine was in 1846

Dictionary Entries Near sugar pine

Cite this Entry

“Sugar pine.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sugar%20pine. Accessed 31 Oct. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on sugar pine

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!