yucca

Syllables: yuc·ca/ˈjʌkə/US/ˈjʌkə/

yucca noun: any of several evergreen plants of the genus Yucca, having long, pointed, and rigid leaves at the top of a woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy white blossoms.

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Noun

yucca (plural yuccas)

Any of several evergreen plants of the genus Yucca, having long, pointed, and rigid leaves at the top of a woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy white blossoms.
- YUCCA: The Indian Yucca; vulgô. / The Characters are; / It hath the Appearance of an Aloe, the Leaves ending in a ſharp Point, but will grow in the Habit of a Tree; […] The Species are; / 1. Yucca; foliis Aloes. C. B. P. The common Yucca. / 2. Yucca; foliis filamentoſis. Moriſs. Yucca with Threads...[1733, Philip Miller, “YUCCA”, in The Gardeners Dictionary: […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC
- On the mountains a few junipers and piñons are found, and cactuses, agave, and yuccas, low, fleshy plants with bayonets and thorns.1895, J[ohn] W[esley] Powell, chapter I, in Canyons of the Colorado, Meadville, PA: Flood & Vincent; republished as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons, New York: Dover, 1961...
Synonyms:

oose
(obsolete, proscribed) The yuca (cassava).
- Jucca, ſive Yucca Peruana. The root whereof the bread Caſua, or Cazava is made.[1677, Thomas Holyoke [i.e., Thomas Holyoake], “Jucca”, in A Large Dictionary: In Three Parts: […], London: […] W[illiam] Rawlins, for G[eorge] Sawbridge, W[illiam] Place, T[homas] Basset, T[homas]...
- [A] second kind of bread is made of the root, called Yucca, which is bruised, and the juice, which is poisonous, expressed; it is then spread into broad thin cakes, and dried for use. In this shape it is called cassava, and though much esteemed by the natives, to a European palate (except perhaps a...1824, Francis Hall, Colombia: Its Present State, in Respect of Climate, Soil, Productions, Population, Government, Commerce, Revenue, Manufactures, Arts, Literature, Manners, Education, and...

Proper noun capitalized: Yucca

Yucca

(abbreviation, ellipsis) Ellipsis of Yucca Mountain.
- Add this issue tot the myriad of other problems at Yucca Mountain: its active seismicity, including last year's revelation in Science that the earth's crust at Yucca is less stable than scientists previously had believed […]1999, Frank Murkowski, Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal Policy: Hearing Before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, U.S. Senate, DIANE Publishing, →ISBN, page 55
- “Maybe the mantle under Yucca is so damn hot that it behaves more like pudding or putty than solid brittle rock.” “Yeah. Ain't hindsight great,” Barney said. They sighed as Hank rolled up the earthquake maps[…]2007 04, Wendell Duffield, Yucca Mountain Dirty Bomb, iUniverse, →ISBN
An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Mohave County, Arizona, United States.

Examples of yucca in a sentence

YUCCA: The Indian Yucca; vulgô. / The Characters are; / It hath the Appearance of an Aloe, the Leaves ending in a ſharp Point, but will grow in the Habit of a Tree; […] The Species are; / 1.[1733, Philip Miller, “YUCCA”, in The Gardeners Dictionary: […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: […] C[harles] Rivington, […], →OCLC:
Yuccas are large, impressive plants with tough, leathery swordlike leaves and towering stalks of white cupshaped flowers.1987, Rita Buchanan, “Plant Fibers for Spinning and Stuffing”, in A Weaver's Garden, Loveland, Colo.: Interweave Press, →ISBN, page 51:
The strange yet appealing yucca is native to the United States, Mexico and the West Indies and is part of the Agavaceae family, many species of which have tough, sword-like leaves.2000, Margaret Roberts, “Yucca: Yucca gloriosa”, in Edible & Medicinal Flowers, Claremont, Cape Town: The Spearhead Press, New Africa...
Small, shrubby yuccas give your landscape a characteristic Southwest flavor.2013, George Oxford Miller, “Native Plant Profiles”, in Landscaping with Native Plants of Texas, 2nd edition, Minneapolis, Minn.: Voyageur...

Synonyms of yucca

oose

Forms of yucca

plural	yuccas

Plural of yucca: yuccas

Origin of yucca

Variant of yuca, sometimes said to be from Kari'na yuca (“cassava (Manihot esculenta)”), but this latter appears to be a ghost word. The word was applied to plants of the genus Yucca (now the main sense), because Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and others confused them with the cassava.

Words formed from yucca

Phrases with yucca

Words that rhyme with yucca

Questions about yucca

What does yucca mean?: Yucca means any of several evergreen plants of the genus Yucca, having long, pointed, and rigid leaves at the top of a woody stem, and bearing a large panicle of showy white blossoms.
How do you use yucca in a sentence?: YUCCA: The Indian Yucca; vulgô. / The Characters are; / It hath the Appearance of an Aloe, the Leaves ending in a ſharp Point, but will grow in the Habit of a Tree; […] The Species are; / 1.
What part of speech is yucca?: Yucca can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce yucca?: Yucca is pronounced /ˈjʌkə/ (UK).
What is the plural of yucca?: The plural of yucca is yuccas.

Words near yucca in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: yucca (page history and authors); Yucca (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-yucca.wav.

Cite this entry: “yucca.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/yucca. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.