sagebrush

noun

sage·​brush ˈsāj-ˌbrəsh 

: any of several North American hoary composite subshrubs (genus Artemisia)

especially : one (A. tridentata) having a bitter juice and an odor resembling sage and often covering vast tracts of alkaline plains in the western U.S.

Examples of sagebrush in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The greater sage-grouse lives on the sagebrush steppe in western North America. —Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 May 2025

The town of Rock Springs sprouts out of a vacant landscape of sandstone cliffs and sagebrush in southern Wyoming. —Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Hiking here rewards you with panoramic views of the coastline, where hawks circle overhead and the scent of sagebrush floats on the breeze. —Cliff Lewis, Oc Register, 4 Apr. 2025

The company erected primitive shelters for its new Chinese employees on a sagebrush flat about a quarter of a mile north of town. —Michael Luo, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1850, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for sagebrush

• underbrush
• airbrush
• hairbrush
• inrush
• onrush
• paintbrush
• blush
• brush
• crush
• flush
• gush
• hush

Kids Definition

sagebrush

noun

sage·​brush ˈsāj-ˌbrəsh 

: any of several low shrubby North American plants related to the daisies

especially : a common plant with a bitter juice that smells like sage and is widespread on the plains of the western U.S.