Prickly pear Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun cacti having spiny flat joints and oval fruit that is edible in some species; often used as food for stock
    prickly pear cactus.
  2. noun round or pear-shaped spiny fruit of any of various prickly pear cacti

WordNet

Definitions
  1. (Bot.), a name given to several plants of the cactaceous genus Opuntia, American plants consisting of fleshy, leafless, usually flattened, and often prickly joints inserted upon each other. The sessile flowers have many petals and numerous stamens. The edible fruit is a large pear-shaped berry containing many flattish seeds. The common species of the Northern Atlantic States is Opuntia vulgaris. In the South and West are many others, and in tropical America more than a hundred more. O. vulgaris, O. Ficus-Indica, and O. Tuna are abundantly introduced in the Mediterranean region, and O. Dillenii has become common in India.

Webster 1913