Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A very large cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) of the southwest United States and northern Mexico, having ribbed upward-curving branches, white funnel-shaped flowers, and edible red fruit.
- n. The fruit of this cactus.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The giant cactus, Cereus giganteus, a columnar species from 25 to over 50 feet high, growing on stony mesas and low hills in Arizona and adjacent parts of Mexico. The wood of the large strong ribs is light and soft, solid, and susceptible of a beautiful polish, and is indestructible in contact with the soil. It is used by the Indians for lances and bows, and by the settlers for rafters of adobe houses, fencing, etc. The edible fruit is largely collected and dried by the Indians.
Wiktionary
- n. A large cactus in the genus Carnegiea, native to the Sonoran Desert and characterized by its "arms".
WordNet 3.0
- n. extremely large treelike cactus of desert regions of southwestern United States having a thick columnar sparsely branched trunk bearing white flowers and edible red pulpy fruit
Etymologies
- American Spanish, probably of Piman origin.
Examples
“The saguaro is a signature plant of the Sonoran Desert.”
“Scattered among the huge club-shaped columns of the saguaro is the cholla, the next largest of the cactuses.”
“… if you didn't know, and i didn't, a saguaro is a type of cactus …”
“Matthew Rounis, a fifth-grader who also served on the commission, said the combo design "represents the entire state, not just one section, and it also serves as a map of Arizona, since in the northern part you have the Grand Canyon and in the southern part you have the saguaro which is indigenous to those areas.”
“Paloverde-cactus shrub vegetation includes various types of cacti, such as saguaro, cholla and agave.”
“The saguaro is a monstrosity in fact as well as in appearance, -- a product of miscegenation between plant and animal, probably depending for its form of life history, if not for its very existence, on its commensals." [”
Folkways A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals
“The North American Gila Woodpecker excavates a living space within saguaro cacti.”
“But I went alone, reassured in the north by the desert, the barrenness interrupted by the stolid saguaro, the gnarled creosote.”
“A second important time was the “summer wine feast” preceded by the “Saguaro ripe moon” when the important picking of saguaro fruits occurred.”
“The last month in their year was the “black seed moon” preceding the ripening of the saguaro cactus fruits.”
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