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# mesquite

«mesquite» in Mova's school dictionary: **A spiny shrub or small tree of the pea family that grows…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

noun (a mesquite, mesquites; mesquite – the wood, uncountable)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A spiny shrub or small tree of the pea family that grows in deserts and dry lands of the south-western USA and Mexico, with long seed pods. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#m1)

2) The wood of this tree, used to give a smoky flavour to barbecued food. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In geography and science lessons about deserts, mesquite is a desert survivor: its roots can go very deep (sometimes over 50 metres) to reach water. Native peoples ground its pods into flour. In cooking, «mesquite-grilled» food is cooked over mesquite wood. In Australia, mesquite was brought in and is now a harmful weed. Phrases: «mesquite tree», «mesquite smoke».

### examples

- Mesquite trees grow in the deserts of Mexico and the USA. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x1)
- Mesquite roots reach deep underground for water. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x2)
- The barbecue was flavoured with mesquite wood. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x3)
- Native Americans made flour from mesquite pods. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x4)
- Cattle eat mesquite pods in dry seasons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x5)
- In Australia, mesquite is a weed that spreads quickly. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x6)
- The desert road was lined with thorny mesquite. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x7)
- Mesquite-smoked chicken has a strong flavour. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/#x8)

### note

Countable for trees, uncountable for the wood. Pronounced «mes-KEET». A loanword from Spanish, from the Aztec language Nahuatl. Not a maths word.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «mesquite» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/mesquite/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.