thorn
53
1.0
- noun
- /θɔrn/
:
espina
- Be careful when walking through the garden; there are sharp thorns on the rose bushes.
- crown of thorns
- a thorn bush
- a sharp thorn
So from now on, don't say Thorns, say Prickles.
- So from now on, don't say Thorns, say Prickles.
- And when that grows those fruits and those thorns, it ties up God's blessing and chokes them.
- Little plant starts to grow and then the thorns choke it to death.
- His pants and everything were torn to shreds from the thorns and stuff.
- And they may have thorns rather than needles, but they're much more durable.
- It's on like this muddy, like climb up, up like a steep embankment with thorns.
- No tree or thorn or blade of grass grew in the Stony earth under the unsetting stars.
Examples
-
Even the leaves have thorns all over them.
-
But this one was real, thorns and all, a real live rose.
Fiction book (1990) -
You hurt it on the thorn bush in the hunt.
-
Our mud flower has a thorn.
-
I have a thorn in my sock.
-
Your path will be spread with thorns.
-
"On the other side of the grass, in the thorn bushes, I heard water rushing."
Fiction book (1994) -
Then he got up and started pulling thorns out of Brother's arms and shoulders.
Fiction book (1990) -
The Black Rhino lives in dry thorn bush country, and males are usually solitary.
Academic text (2003) -
The thick-eyed cacti, with thorns from head to toe, surrounded me on all sides.
Fiction book (1991)
Synonyms
40
4.1
A sharp, stiff part on a plant or animal that can prick
4
3.9
A small sharp point on a plant stem or leaf that can scratch
1
6.5
A small sharp point on a plant that can prick you
1
8.2
A small sharp point on a plant stem or leaf that can hurt if touched
A sharp point on a plant stem that can hurt you
A small pointed part on a grass or grain stem that holds small flowers
Idioms
Compounds
A spiny shrub from Madagascar grown as a houseplant with small flowers and bright red petals
- Specialized
A small tree or bush from eastern North America with long sharp thorns, white flowers, and red berries
A tall poisonous plant with bad-smelling leaves, large trumpet-shaped flowers, and spiky fruit
- South African
A South African bush with sharp forked branches and fruit like small plums often planted as a fence
A thorny shrub or small tree with yellow flowers often grown in warm, dry places
A small thorny tree or shrub from the southern United States with leaves like parsley
How Sharp
Surface Forms
Etymology
Thorn comes from Old English þorn, which meant 'a sharp point on a plant', so it still means a small, sharp spike on a stem that can hurt you.