: any of several spiny leguminous trees or shrubs (genus Prosopis and especially P. glandulosa) chiefly of the southwestern U.S. that often form extensive thickets and have sweet pods eaten by livestock
also: the wood of the mesquite used especially in grilling food
Illustration of mesquite
1 flower and leaves
2 pod
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The plant is cooked in stone ovens using mesquite and volcanic rock and fermented in oak wood.—Ximena N. Beltran Quan Kiu, Bon Appétit, 18 Feb. 2025 Indigenous ingredients make ample appearances on chef Donald Hawk's menu, from mesquite and elote pastas to tepary bean dips and huitlacoche butter.—Felicia Campbell, The Arizona Republic, 24 Dec. 2024 Tucson’s skyline and freeways lay 20 miles downhill from the ocotillos, mesquites and saguaros that ring the Santa Ritas.—Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 19 Dec. 2024 The region is bordered by vast ranches and fields of mesquite, as well as colonias, where thousands of agricultural workers live in trailer homes.—Stephania Taladrid, The New Yorker, 25 Nov. 2024 See All Example Sentences for mesquite
: a thorny deep-rooted tree or shrub of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico that belongs to the legume family, produces pods rich in sugar, and is important as food for livestock
also: the wood of the mesquite used especially in grilling food
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