Adjacent Words

cactus definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: any succulent plant of the family Cactaceae native chiefly to arid regions of the New World and usually having spines

Merriam Webster's

noun (plural cacti or cactuses; also cactus) Etymology: New Latin, genus name, from Latin, cardoon, from Greek kaktos Date: 1767 any of a family (Cactaceae, the cactus family) of plants that have succulent stems and branches with scales or spines instead of leaves and are found especially in dry areas (as deserts)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. (pl. cacti or cactuses) any succulent plant of the family Cactaceae, with a thick fleshy stem, usu. spines but no leaves, and brilliantly coloured flowers. Phrases and idioms: cactus dahlia any kind of dahlia with quilled petals resembling a cactus flower. Derivatives: cactaceous adj. Etymology: L f. Gk kaktos cardoon

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cactus Cac"tus, n.; pl. E. Cactuses, Cacti (-t[=i]). [L., a kind of cactus, Gr. ??????.] (Bot.) Any plant of the order Cactac[ae], as the prickly pear and the night-blooming cereus. See Cereus. They usually have leafless stems and branches, often beset with clustered thorns, and are mostly natives of the warmer parts of America. Cactus wren (Zo["o]l.), an American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, of several species.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cactuses, or cacti) A cactus is a thick fleshy plant that grows in many hot, dry parts of the world. Cacti have no leaves and many of them are covered in prickles. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

bramble, brier, bristle, burr, catchweed, cleavers, goose grass, needle, nettle, pine needle, prickle, quill, spicule, spiculum, spike, spikelet, spine, sticker, thistle, thorn, yucca