1. Plural of boojum; a tall, spindly tree (Fouquieria columnaris) native to the Sonoran Desert, characterized by a twisted trunk and sparse foliage.
Usage: botanical term; primarily used in southwestern United States
2. Plural of boojum; an imaginary creature or snare in Lewis Carroll's poem 'The Hunting of the Snark'; used figuratively to mean an elusive or dangerous thing.
Usage: literary; from Carroll's 1876 nonsense poem

Examples

• The boojums in the Sonoran Desert are remarkable for their unusual appearance.
• Hikers often travel to Baja California to photograph the rare boojums.
• The twisted trunks of boojums make them instantly recognizable.
• In Carroll's poem, the hunters feared encountering a boojum above all else.
• The boojum has become a symbol of the desert's strange and wonderful flora.