pigeon pea

noun

: a leguminous shrubby herb (Cajanus cajan) with trifoliate leaves, yellow flowers, and flattened pods that is much cultivated especially in the tropics
also : its small highly nutritious seed

Examples of pigeon pea in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Many of these, such as okra, millets, and pigeon peas, have historically been overlooked and under harvested. Daniela De Lorenzo, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024 Ferrari and his family grow a host of other plants — coconuts, peach and pigeon peas, just to name a few — and selling mangoes was never about profit, anyway, so this summer’s loss was manageable. Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 18 July 2024 There’s backyard favorites, like cheeseburgers, along with dishes with local flavors, such as Bahamian pigeon peas and rice. Carly Caramanna, Parents, 15 June 2024 Sunday’s government proposal of minimum support prices to farmers who diversify their crops to grow cotton, pigeon peas, black matpe, red lentils and corn was rejected by the protesters, who wanted additional food grains covered. Reuters, NBC News, 21 Feb. 2024 The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a global innovation network, is setting up gene banks and crossbreeding more productive strains from traditional dryland crops like sorghum, millet and pigeon peas. Katharine Houreld, Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2023 Head to the Indian spice sections at Patel Brothers or Apna Bazar, and get your hands on black cardamom pods, mustard seeds, ghee, and all kinds of dal (split black lentils, pigeon peas, chickpeas) to bring back to your kitchen. Caroline Shin, Bon Appétit, 13 Oct. 2023 Along with cover crops, planting trees that help slow the wind increased the pigeon pea harvest by 50 percent — and this was despite a Category 5 hurricane hitting the island during the study period. Moises Velasquez-Manoff, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2022 Masy Liafineno’e, a single mother of seven children, has planted hedges of pigeon pea shrubs as a windbreaker to shield her few rows of beans, corn and sweet potatoes that have sprouted against the odds. Lynsey Chutel Joao Silva, New York Times, 16 Nov. 2022

Word History

First Known Use

1683, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of pigeon pea was in 1683

Dictionary Entries Near pigeon pea

Cite this Entry

“Pigeon pea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pigeon%20pea. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

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