toyon

[ toi-on, -ohn ]

  1. an evergreen, rosaceous shrub or small tree, Heteromeles arbutifolia (or Photinia arbutifolia), of California and northern Mexico, having clusters of small, white flowers and bright red berries.

Origin of toyon

1
1840–50, Americanism; variant of tollon<Mexican Spanish tollón
  • Also called Christmas berry.

Words Nearby toyon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use toyon in a sentence

  • A little bank that runs from the wickiup to the toyon bushes is covered with white forget-me-nots.

    The Arrow-Maker | Mary Austin
  • Hume answered that it was, and named two or three men in El toyon as possible stake holders.

    The Short Cut | Jackson Gregory
  • But if I'm back in El toyon to-morrow with the wires busy there won't be a hole in the web for a blue bottle to buzz through.

    The Short Cut | Jackson Gregory
  • He made more friends in the six months of his stay—he left in June,—than any other man in El toyon had made in a year.

    The Short Cut | Jackson Gregory
  • With no look behind him he mounted, spurred out into the road and galloped off toward El toyon.

    The Short Cut | Jackson Gregory