[man.grove] n [prob. fr. Pg mangue mangrove (fr. Sp mangle, prob. fr. Taino) + E grove] (1613) 1: any of a genus (Rhizophora, esp. R. mangle of the family Rhizophoraceae) of tropical maritime trees or shrubs that send out many prop roots and form dense masses important in coastal land building
2: any of numerous trees (as of the genera Avicennia of the vervain family or Sonneratia of the family Sonneratiaceae) with growth habits like those of the true mangroves