cactus
any of numerous succulent plants of the family Cactaceae, of warm, arid regions of the New World, having fleshy, leafless, usually spiny stems, and typically having solitary, showy flowers.
Origin of cactus
1Other words from cactus
- cac·tus·like, cactoid, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use cactus in a sentence
Those are saguaro cactuses…the big ones…birds make holes in them and build their nests inside.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile | Robert Ward | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTFull of springs, fruit trees, cactuses and stone structures, Lifta was initially slated to be a nature preserve.
Palestinians and Jews Unite to Save the Pre-1948 Town of Lifta | Lauren Gelfond Feldinger | November 21, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThe little unincorporated community sits in a lonely stretch of hot desert amidst black rocks and saguaro cactuses.
In Tiny Ajo, Arizona, Border Patrol Agents Are Living the Dream | Terry Greene Sterling | September 22, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTBut, torn as he was by the cactuses of Barbary and the thickets of Tartary, the seneschal had lost nothing of his haughty air.
Laboulaye's Fairy Book | VariousIf only they would go to their study and quarrel about the Mariposa lily, or cactuses, or salix, or something.
Katharine Frensham | Beatrice Harraden
The cactuses were here from sixteen to seventeen feet high, and so close together that I could not go a foot into them.
The Backwoodsman | VariousA scanty growth of what looked like camel grass, interspersed euphorbias and cactuses of great height, was all that met the eye.
Hesperothen; Notes from the West, Vol. II (of 2) | W. H. RussellGigantic cactuses surround the town, and cocoa palms rise to great heights within it.
In Indian Mexico (1908) | Frederick Starr
British Dictionary definitions for cactus
/ (ˈkæktəs) /
any spiny succulent plant of the family Cactaceae of the arid regions of America. Cactuses have swollen tough stems, leaves reduced to spines or scales, and often large brightly coloured flowers
cactus dahlia a double-flowered variety of dahlia
Origin of cactus
1Derived forms of cactus
- cactaceous (kækˈteɪʃəs), adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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