CACTUS

cactus

(noun) any succulent plant of the family Cactaceae native chiefly to arid regions of the New World and usually having spines

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Proper noun

Cactus

A city in Texas.

An unincorporated community in California.

Etymology

Noun

cactus (plural cacti or cactuses or cactus)

(botany) Any member of the family Cactaceae, a family of flowering New World succulent plants suited to a hot, semi-desert climate.

Any succulent plant with a thick fleshy stem bearing spines but no leaves, such as euphorbs.

Usage notes

In modern English, the term cactus properly refers to plants belonging to the family Cactaceae. With one exception, all are native to the New World (the Americas). The sole exception is Rhipsalis, a jungle epiphyte found in tropical Africa, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka, as well as North and South America. Informally, cactus is used to refer to any stem succulent adapted to a dry climate, notably species from genus Euphorbia with forms reminiscent of Cactaceae. These succulents are better described as "cactoid" or "cactiform" unless they are actual members of the Cactaceae.

Hypernyms

• (member of Cactaceae): succulent

Hyponyms

• (member of Cactaceae): nopal, saguaro

Adjective

cactus (not comparable)

(Australia, NZ, slang) Non-functional, broken, exhausted, dead.

Source: Wiktionary

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Cac"tus, n. ; pl. E. Cactuses, Cacti (-ti). Etym: [L., a kind of cactus, Gr. (Bot.)

Definition: Any plant of the order Cactacæ, 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 (Zoöl.), an American wren of the genus Campylorhynchus, of several species.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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