CHOLLA Definition & Meaning

cholla

[ chohl-yah, -yuh; Spanish chaw-yah ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

plural chollas

any of several spiny treelike cacti belonging to the genus Opuntia, especially O. fulgida of the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, having knobby outgrowths and yellow spines.

cholla

/ ˈtʃoʎa; ˈtʃəʊljɑː /

noun

any of several spiny cacti of the genus Opuntia that grow in the southwestern US and Mexico and have cylindrical stem segments See also prickly pear

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of cholla¹

First recorded in 1855–60, Americanism; from Mexican Spanish cholla “head” (perhaps from dialectal Old French cholle “ball,” from Germanic)

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of cholla¹

Mexican Spanish, from Spanish: head, perhaps from Old French (dialect) cholle ball, of Germanic origin

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

And spines can become lodged in people’s skin if they so much as brush against a cholla.

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As the light catches the cholla needles, the cactus glows like a neon sign in Vegas.

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Over three decades, neighborhood foresters have transformed Dunbar Spring’s bald curbsides into lush forests of mesquite, hackberry, cholla and prickly pear cactus and more—all plants that have edible parts.

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But it’s been worth it for the desert’s charms: the temperate winters and the cholla and saguaro growing on the hillsides — even as the city gets hotter.

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The giant boulders stuck out like warts among the prickly barrel cactuses and the sun-haloed cholla plants.

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