Definition of "mesquite" []

• Any of several small spiny trees or shrubs of the genus Prosopis in the pea family, native to hot, dry regions of the New World and important as plants for bees and forage for cattle, especially: (noun)
• P. glandulosa, native to the southwest United States and northern Mexico. Also called honey mesquite, western honey mesquite. (noun)
• P. juliflora, native to the Gulf Coast and Caribbean islands from Mexico to Venezuela. Also called algarroba. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "I like to make strips approx 8 long ... dry according to your dryers specs and enjoy ... you can also add or subtract different flavors of liquid smoke to your own personal taste, I like the hickory but mesquite is also good ..."
• "A Mexican friend who owns some property in Guanajuato (capital) was just fined for cutting a mesquite tree that was on his property -- in Guanajauto mesquite is something of an endangered species, I guess."
• "If you are referring to my use of mesquite for firewood, I live in a ranching area where mesquite is considered a nuisance weed."