How to Use capsicum in a Sentence

capsicum

noun
  • The palate is vibrant and zesty with lime, green apple flavors, and a hint of capsicum/pepper.
    — Joseph V Micallef, Forbes, 25 Jan. 2025
  • Heinz teamed with him to make the sauces, which have a smoky flavor, notes of lemon and are made with red jalapeños, capsicum chilies and a mix of herbs and spices.
    — Mike Snider, USA TODAY, 4 Apr. 2023
  • Along with the meat, throw side servings of capsicum, onion, guacamole, sour cream and salsa into a warm, flour tortilla.
    — CNN, 13 Apr. 2021
  • The agency last week announced none of their officers used tear gas or capsicum spray (another name for pepper spray).
    — Ledyard King, USA TODAY, 13 June 2020
  • Capsimax powder is a mixture of capsicum, caffeine, piperine, and niacin.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
  • It’s known as la madre de todos los chiles, or the mother of all peppers, because all capsicum can trace their genetic origins to this one tiny pepper.
    — Von Diaz, Bon Appetit Magazine, 11 Dec. 2025
  • The active ingredient is capsicum oleoresin, which is derived from chili peppers.
    — Cameron Evans, Outdoor Life, 6 July 2023
  • Orange-red yolks can also be attained by increasing a chicken's beta-carotene consumption, or even feeding it capsicum or marigold petals.
    — CBS News, 28 Sep. 2019
  • Yes, the beer does include oleoresin capsicum, the food-grade chili oil and primary ingredient in Mace pepper spray.
    — Matt Allyn, Popular Mechanics, 2 Feb. 2018
  • Officers ordered inmates to lie on the ground and sprayed oleoresin capsicum, Edge said, commonly known as pepper spray.
    — Laurel Andrews, Anchorage Daily News, 19 Jan. 2018
  • Cayenne, listed as capsicum on the Ignite label, is rich with natural fat burning chemicals like capsaicin.
    — James Robinson, Discover Magazine, 9 Dec. 2022
  • Pepper spray, based on a compound called oleoresin capsicum (OC) that can also be used in grenades, behaves in a similar way.
    — Michael Ciaglo, National Geographic, 5 June 2020
  • Consumer Reports also recommends marking an area with mouse-deterrent tape that’s infused with capsicum, the substance that makes peppers spicy.
    — Gary Gastelu, Fox News, 13 July 2018
  • Talbot was on the floor of a shower and refused to get up when correction officers decided to spray him with oleoresin capsicum, a pepper spray known as OC.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 13 Feb. 2025
  • This compact cocktail kit, neatly packaged in a copper tin, contains a small batch of bold and spicy ginger syrup developed in-house with ginger, lime concentrate and capsicum for the perfect blend of sweet and spice.
    — Anna Tingley, Variety, 16 Nov. 2023
  • The rest of the time, pepper spray — technically known as oleoresin capsicum, or OC — was used in the general population areas of the prison.
    — Patrick Marley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 1 Sep. 2017
  • Both bear mace and pepper spray contain the same active ingredient, oleoresin capsicum (OC), but at different volumes.
    — Meg Carney, Field & Stream, 11 Apr. 2023
  • The sheriff's department said deputies first tried to control the situation by using verbal commands before used liquid oleoresin capsicum, which is an irritant.
    — Phil Helsel, NBC News, 16 July 2021
  • For example, to consume enough capsicum (the active ingredient in cayenne pepper seeds) by eating chillies would be an uncomfortable experience, to say the least.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 5 Oct. 2023
  • During the Age of Discovery, Europeans brought back from the Americas species of capsicum peppers and chili peppers.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
  • There is the blinding light that’s on 24 hours a day in the cell, and the constant exposure to institutional-grade capsicum spray, known familiarly in riot-control settings as pepper spray.
    — Arthur Longworth, The New Republic, 18 June 2020
  • The board first voted in early 2019 to ban probation officers from deploying pepper spray, also known as oleoresin capsicum or OC spray.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 24 Feb. 2023
  • Police must reasonably believe the demonstrator is wearing the face covering primarily to conceal one’s identity or as protection against crowd-controlling substances such as capsicum spray.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 5 Oct. 2019
  • Piperine and capsicum have prominent thermogenic properties that boost heat production, thereby enhancing fat metabolism.
    — Amber Smith, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
  • Della recommends seeking out specific ingredients like capsicum, menthol, and cinnamon.
    — Iman Balagam, Vogue, 5 Dec. 2024
  • They're formulated with ingredients like capsicum, cinnamates, caffeine, menthol, and peppermints, which, when applied to the lips, create a plumping effect by causing temporary swelling.
    — Lauren Dana Ellman, Allure, 18 June 2023
  • Those exposed reported shortness of breath, chest pain and intense burning sensations on their skin and faces, symptoms consistent with high concentration of oleoresin and capsicum, the active ingredient in pepper spray.
    — Garrett Shanley, Miami Herald, 18 Apr. 2026
  • The capsicum peppers that reached Tunisia in the 16th century after being brought back to Spain from the New World took particularly well to the peninsula’s climate and soil.
    — Jeff Koehler, sacbee, 22 Aug. 2017
  • The board first voted in early 2019 to ban all juvenile detention facilities from deploying pepper spray, also known as oleoresin capsicum or OC spray.
    — Rebecca Ellisstaff Writer, Los Angeles Times, 20 Dec. 2022
  • But Special Operation Response Team members attempted to pry their way into the office with a crow bar and sprayed the room without authorization with oleoresin capsicum, also known as pepper spray, according the report.
    — Bart Jansen, USA TODAY, 19 June 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'capsicum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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