Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Prickly \Prick"ly\,
Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shru
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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.
Wiktionary
n. 1 Any of various spiny cacti of the genus ''Opuntia'' 2 The fruit, often edible, of such a plant.
WordNet
n. cacti having spiny flat joints and oval fruit that is edible in some species; often used as food for stock [syn: prickly pear cactus]
round or pear-shaped spiny fruit of any of various prickly pear cacti
Wikipedia
Prickly Pear is an island of the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean. It is uninhabited but has a beach bar and recreational water sports facility on it. It is located on the north side of North Sound, opposite Virgin Gorda.
The island was declared to be a National Park in 1988.
Prickly pear may refer to:
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Opuntia, a genus of cacti producing a fruit known as the prickly pear
- Opuntia ficus-indica, the species which is the most common culinary source of prickly pear fruits
- Consolea, a genus of cacti including species formerly classified in Opuntia
- Prickly Pear (British Virgin Islands), the name of an island
- Prickly pears in Australia, an invasive plant problem
Usage examples of "prickly pear".
She walked out when she saw me coming, skirting the chimps of prickly pear or the prairie-dog holes.
He now pursued his route in the dark, reflecting on the strange adventures and sights of the day, which crowded on his mind so rapidly, that he should have been inclined to believe it all enchantment if the thorns of the prickly pear, piercing his feet, had not dispelled at every moment the illusion.
Several pages were stuck on prickly pear piles, between the saloon and the river.
His father still practiced every day, shooting arrows at prickly pear, or jackrabbits, or anything he thought might sharpen his aim.
She was hoping they would strike a town that had a doctor, but there seemed to be nothing in that part of the country but prickly pear and mesquite.
And then, unexpectedly, they passed through a lush valley, full of grass-covered sand and prickly pear, sprawling in gorgeous bloom.
The feet of the men with me so stuck with prickly pear and cut with stones that they were scarcely able to march at a slow gait this afternoon.
His only danger was if someone got behind a big clump of prickly pear off on his left and outside the grove of trees and brush.
She walked out when she saw me coming, skirting the clumps of prickly pear or the prairie-dog holes.
Here there was thin grass, a few clumps of prickly pear, and the cat tracks, fading away to the northwest.
We dipped into a hollow dotted with clumps of ocotillo and prickly pear, and charged down it, out of sight of the Apaches for at least a mile.
He chewed a strip of cold meat and skinned and ate new buds taken from a prickly pear stand, but the cool juices did not entirely quench his thirst.
Ramage tucked a pistol in his belt, jammed his hat on and strode across the coarse grass and prickly pear to the provisions dump, where Jackson had the prisoner.
He found a prickly pear and tried to detach one of its fruits, but he had forgotten to bring a flint blade, and it was too tough for his small fingers.
In among the ironwoods, prickly pear and mesquite, you had no chance to build a loop .