Meaning & use
baobab tree
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Meaning
nouncountable
A very thick-trunked tree of dry regions, with large fruit and branches that resemble roots, able to store water and live for centuries.
Grammar: Plural is baobab trees. In speech it can be shortened to baobab.
Patterns
- a baobab tree in somewhere
A giant baobab tree stood beside the dusty road.
Children collected the fruit that had dropped from the baobab tree.
We camped under an ancient baobab tree in Madagascar.
Word forms
| plural | baobab trees |
|---|
Common combinations
- ancient baobab tree
- An ancient baobab tree marked the village center.
- hollow baobab tree
- The hollow baobab tree once served as a shelter.
- baobab tree fruit
- Baobab tree fruit is rich in vitamin C.
- enormous baobab tree
- Elephants rested in the shade of an enormous baobab tree.
- avenue of baobab trees
- Tourists photograph the avenue of baobab trees at sunset.
Synonyms and how they differ
- baobab
- Baobab is the shorter, more common form of the same name.
- upside-down tree
- This is a nickname because the bare branches look like roots, and it is less formal than baobab tree.
- monkey-bread tree
- Monkey-bread tree is another popular name that refers to the fruit and is much less common in general English.
Word family
Commonly confused: baobab tree or banyan tree?
baobab tree vs banyan tree
A banyan is an Asian fig tree with aerial roots, and not the thick-trunked baobab of Africa.
Practice
The thick trunk of a baobab tree can store water, which helps it survive in a ___ climate.
Choose one answer.
Baobabs store water in their trunks to survive dry seasons. A rainforest or polar climate would not need that adaptation.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “baobab tree”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.