oil palm

noun

: an African pinnate-leaved palm (Elaeis guineensis) cultivated for its clustered fruit whose flesh and seeds yield oil

Examples of oil palm in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Between the towns there are rice fields, limestone outcroppings, and repeat patterns of oil palms that stretch as far as the eye can see. Arati Menon, Condé Nast Traveler, 25 May 2024 Nor will vertical farms raise livestock or grow oil palms, which are mainly what people are clearing hardwood forests to make room for. IEEE Spectrum, 2 June 2018 Farmers here have long tended rice paddies but many switched to more lucrative oil palm trees in 2017. Sara Miller Llana, The Christian Science Monitor, 6 Mar. 2025 The corpse flower also raises its temperature on that first, most foul-smelling evening of the bloom, to further disperse the odor. Kassia Bonesteel, CBS News, 25 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for oil palm

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of oil palm was in 1850

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Cite this Entry

“Oil palm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oil%20palm. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

oil palm

noun
: a palm that is cultivated for its clusters of fruits from which a vegetable oil is obtained

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