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pigeon pea
noun
: a leguminous shrubby herb (Cajanus cajan) with trifoliate leaves, yellow flowers, and flattened pods that is much cultivated especially in the tropics
also
: its small highly nutritious seed
Examples of pigeon pea in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Not long ago, these 40 or so low-lying islands – only eight of which are inhabited – might have been a place just for cracked conch, pigeon peas and callaloo stew.
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Mark Gauert, Sun Sentinel, 25 Nov. 2024
Many of these, such as okra, millets, and pigeon peas, have historically been overlooked and under harvested.
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Daniela De Lorenzo, Forbes, 23 Oct. 2024
Ferrari and his family grow a host of other plants — coconuts, peach and pigeon peas, just to name a few — and selling mangoes was never about profit, anyway, so this summer’s loss was manageable.
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Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 18 July 2024
There’s backyard favorites, like cheeseburgers, along with dishes with local flavors, such as Bahamian pigeon peas and rice.
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Carly Caramanna, Parents, 15 June 2024
Sunday’s government proposal of minimum support prices to farmers who diversify their crops to grow cotton, pigeon peas, black matpe, red lentils and corn was rejected by the protesters, who wanted additional food grains covered.
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Reuters, NBC News, 21 Feb. 2024
The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), a global innovation network, is setting up gene banks and crossbreeding more productive strains from traditional dryland crops like sorghum, millet and pigeon peas.
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Katharine Houreld, Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2023
Head to the Indian spice sections at Patel Brothers or Apna Bazar, and get your hands on black cardamom pods, mustard seeds, ghee, and all kinds of dal (split black lentils, pigeon peas, chickpeas) to bring back to your kitchen.
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Caroline Shin, Bon Appétit, 13 Oct. 2023
Along with cover crops, planting trees that help slow the wind increased the pigeon pea harvest by 50 percent — and this was despite a Category 5 hurricane hitting the island during the study period.
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Moises Velasquez-Manoff, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2022
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Word History
First Known Use
1683, in the meaning defined above
Dictionary Entries Near pigeon pea
Cite this Entry
“Pigeon pea.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pigeon%20pea. Accessed 10 Feb. 2025.
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