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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
Macaques bash open oil palm nuts by placing them on a flat stone and striking their shell with another stone.
—Zach Zorich, Scientific American, 10 Mar. 2023
But environmental benefits accrue only if existing cropland is converted to oil palms.
—Patricia Cohen Jes Aznar, New York Times, 14 Mar. 2024
It's all been converted into oil palm, but I was not allowed to say it on camera.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 21 Apr. 2023
Unfortunately, thousands of peatlands are sometimes cleared for oil palm plantations.
—Simi Thambi, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024
Some of them, including African rice, have remained virtually confined there; others, such as African yams, eventually spread throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa; and two, the oil palm and the kola nut, spread to other continents.
—Jared Diamond, Discover Magazine, 17 Apr. 2023
Much of their tropical rainforest homelands are being cleared to make way for oil palm plantations.
—Ralph Steadman, Discover Magazine, 19 July 2018
What Is Palm Oil? Palm oil comes from the fruit of the oil palm tree, which is found mainly in warm climates such as Africa and Asia.
—Isadora Baum, Health, 17 Aug. 2023
In a bid to improve self-sufficiency, the Ugandan government has pledged to plant some 100,000 hectares of oil palm.
—Sophie Neiman, The Christian Science Monitor, 27 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'oil palm.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
1850, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near oil palm
Cite this Entry
“Oil palm.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oil%20palm. Accessed 13 Jun. 2024.
Kids Definition
oil palm
noun
: a palm that is cultivated for its clusters of fruits from which a vegetable oil is obtained
More from Merriam-Webster on oil palm
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about oil palm
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