Illustration of saguaro
plural saguaros
: a tall columnar usually sparsely-branched cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) of dry areas of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico that bears white flowers and a scaly reddish edible fruit and that may attain a height of up to 50 feet (16 meters)
called also giant cactus
Did you know?
Venture into the Arizonan desert on a May or June morning and you may see the saguaro in bloom. For many of our readers (such as those living in Arizona and southeastern California), this sight - and the word saguaro - won't be anything new. Or perhaps you know this emblem of all things Southwestern simply as the "giant cactus." The word saguaro originated in Ópata, a language spoken by peoples of the Sonoran Desert region of Mexico. It came into English by way of the Spanish spoken by the Mexican settlers of the American West. The very saguaros we see today may well have been around when the word was first noted, some 150 years ago - this amazing cactus can live for up to 200 years.
Examples of saguaro in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Cactus arms only begin to appear when the saguaro is around fifty to seventy years old.
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Hazlitt, 5 Mar. 2025
Here in the dry desert, among the saguaro cactuses and tumbleweeds, investigators found a different culprit: Rhipicephalus sanguineus, commonly known as the brown dog tick, a species that thrives on the reservation.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025
Mark shares that this is his first time encountering an elf owl and explains how these tiny, docile birds lead secluded lives, often nesting in saguaro cactus cavities made by woodpeckers.
—Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 16 Dec. 2024
But as climate change makes heat waves more frequent, intense and long-lasting, experts say the increasingly severe conditions are testing some iconic desert plants known for their resilience — including saguaro cacti and agave.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 1 Sep. 2024
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Hazlitt, 5 Mar. 2025
Here in the dry desert, among the saguaro cactuses and tumbleweeds, investigators found a different culprit: Rhipicephalus sanguineus, commonly known as the brown dog tick, a species that thrives on the reservation.
—Pien Huang, NPR, 15 Jan. 2025
Mark shares that this is his first time encountering an elf owl and explains how these tiny, docile birds lead secluded lives, often nesting in saguaro cactus cavities made by woodpeckers.
—Tiffany Acosta, The Arizona Republic, 16 Dec. 2024
But as climate change makes heat waves more frequent, intense and long-lasting, experts say the increasingly severe conditions are testing some iconic desert plants known for their resilience — including saguaro cacti and agave.
—Denise Chow, NBC News, 1 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for saguaro
Cite this Entry
“Saguaro.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/saguaro. Accessed 17 Mar. 2025.
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