cholla

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

noun

, plural chol·las [chohl, -yahz, -y, uh, z, chaw, -yahs].

1. 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

1. 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

Word 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)

Word History and Origins

Origin of cholla¹

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

Example Sentences

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

From Los Angeles Times

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

From Los Angeles Times

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.

From Salon

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.

From Los Angeles Times

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

From New York Times