Prickly pear

Prickly pear
Prickly Prick"ly, a. Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shrub. [1913 Webster]

{Prickly heat} (Med.), a noncontagious cutaneous eruption of red pimples, attended with intense itching and tingling of the parts affected. It is due to inflammation of the sweat glands, and is often brought on by overheating the skin in hot weather.

{Prickly pear} (Bot.), a name given to several plants of the cactaceous genus {Opuntia}, American plants consisting of fleshy, leafless, usually flattened, and often prickly joints inserted upon each other. The sessile flowers have many petals and numerous stamens. The edible fruit is a large pear-shaped berry containing many flattish seeds. The common species of the Northern Atlantic States is {Opuntia vulgaris}. In the South and West are many others, and in tropical America more than a hundred more. {Opuntia vulgaris}, {Opuntia Ficus-Indica}, and {Opuntia Tuna} are abundantly introduced in the Mediterranean region, and {Opuntia Dillenii} has become common in India.

{Prickly pole} (Bot.), a West Indian palm ({Bactris Plumierana}), the slender trunk of which bears many rings of long black prickles.

{Prickly withe} (Bot.), a West Indian cactaceous plant ({Cereus triangularis}) having prickly, slender, climbing, triangular stems.

{Prickly rat} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of South American burrowing rodents belonging to {Ctenomys} and allied genera. The hair is usually intermingled with sharp spines. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • Prickly Pear — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Prickly Pear Island, en Antigua (Antigua y Barbuda), es una isla de North Sound, cercana a la costa de Virgin Gorda. Perteneciente al Archipiélago de Anguila, forma parte del sistema de parques de las Islas Vírgenes… …   Wikipedia Español

  • prickly pear — prickly pears N COUNT A prickly pear is a kind of cactus that has round fruit with prickles on. The fruit, which you can eat, is also called a prickly pear …   English dictionary

  • prickly pear — n [U and C] a type of ↑cactus that has yellow flowers and red fruit. The fruit is also called a prickly pear …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • prickly pear — ► NOUN ▪ a cactus with flattened, jointed stems which produces prickly, pear shaped fruits …   English terms dictionary

  • prickly pear — ☆ prickly pear n. 1. a) any of various cactuses (genus Opuntia) having large, flat, oval stem joints and edible fruits: many species have barbed spines b) the pear shaped fruit of such a plant 2. NOPAL …   English World dictionary

  • prickly pear — noun count a plant that grows in the desert, with a fruit that is covered with sharp needles, or the fruit of this plant …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • prickly pear — shaped fruit of a kind of cactus …   English contemporary dictionary

  • prickly-pear — figavaisė opuncija statusas T sritis vardynas apibrėžtis Kaktusinių šeimos daržovinis, dekoratyvinis, maistinis, pašarinis, vaisinis, vaistinis augalas (Opuntia ficus indica), paplitęs Meksikoje ir Šiaurės Amerikoje. atitikmenys: lot. Cactus… …   Lithuanian dictionary (lietuvių žodynas)

  • prickly pear — 1. any of numerous cacti of the genus Opuntia, having flattened, usually spiny stem joints, yellow, orange, or reddish flowers, and ovoid, often edible fruit. 2. the usually prickly fruit of such a cactus. [1605 15] * * * Any of a group of flat… …   Universalium

  • prickly pear — noun 1. cacti having spiny flat joints and oval fruit that is edible in some species; often used as food for stock • Syn: ↑prickly pear cactus • Hypernyms: ↑cactus • Hyponyms: ↑nopal, ↑Opuntia lindheimeri, ↑tuna, ↑ …   Useful english dictionary

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