noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of several species of cactus in the genus Cylindropuntia, having very spiny, cylindrical stem segments.

   "Throughout Arizona the floors of such caves are found covered with a deep bed of chollas."

2. 2
   arborescent cacti having very spiny cylindrical stem segments; southwestern United States and Mexico wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

opuntia cholla

Example

More examples

"The cholla cacti were beautiful but prickly."

Etymology

From a Mexican Spanish use of Spanish cholla (“head, skull”). Compare keel.

Related phrases

jumping cholla

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.