shea tree

American

noun

an African tree, Butyrospermum parkii, of the sapodilla family, bearing a round, smooth-skinned fruit that contains one or more seeds yielding shea butter.

Etymology

Origin of shea tree

First recorded in 1790–1800

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It has traditionally been women who have gathered the nuts of the shea tree to produce Nilotica shea butter, prized globally for its cosmetic and culinary uses.

From BBC

"The productivity has gone down. The trees are not flowering and fruiting the way they used to. Rain fluctuation has disrupted the shea tree's natural cycles," he said.

From BBC

But the shea tree population has dramatically plummeted in recent year, it says.

From BBC

In her lab in England, Darja will be analysing shea tree leaves to uncover why the caterpillars like them so much.

From BBC

One of the world’s first moisturizers and a major ingredient of black soap, this butter is made from the seeds of the African shea tree.

From New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023