shinnery

[ shin-uh-ree ]

noun

, Southwestern U.S.

1. a dense growth of small trees, especially scrub oaks.

Word History and Origins

Origin of shinnery¹

1900–05, Americanism; < Louisiana French chênière chenier (perhaps directly < a by-form *chênerie )

Example Sentences

The reptiles live in sand dunes and among shinnery oak, where they feed on insects and spiders and burrow into the sand for protection from extreme temperatures.

From Seattle Times

Light brown and spiny, the lizard lives in sand dunes and among shinnery oak, where it feeds on insects and spiders and burrows into the sand for protection from extreme temperatures.

From Seattle Times

It dwells in sand dunes and among shinnery oak.

From Washington Times

Or: “He went by the house at full speed and traveled a hundred yards more before he took the car gently into the ditch and onto a harvested milo field alongside a windbreak ridge thick with tumbleweeds snagged in mesquite and shinnery oak.”

From New York Times

“It’s part of one of the largest shinnery or Havard oak forests in the world, 40,000 to 50,000 acres. The trees are mostly two to four feet tall. The dunes have been here for a long time. They blew in from New Mexico sometime after the last Ice Age and settled in the Permian Basin. They’re absolutely beautiful, an incredible resource. “Spring break is busy, and we had 940 children and adults for Easter last year.”

From Washington Times