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gorse

gorse

1 9.1
A bush with sharp thorns and bright yellow flowers that smell nice
  • noun
  • /ɡɔrs/
  • UK
translation icon : espino
  • The garden was filled with bright yellow flowers from the gorse shrub, attracting many bees.
  • gorse bush
  • yellow gorse
  • gorse field

They burnt all the, the, the rough gorse and all the, the, the, the plant weed and all that.

Examples

  • He started to climb, grabbing the gorse growing in the notches.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • I keep expecting to spy Eeyore in the gorse.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Or was it a gorse bush?

  • Dry, gorse, loose stones, my ticker telling me to slow down from time to time.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Then a wide rift opened, and the island was very clear, even some clusters of houses distinguishable from the rock and patches of gorse.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • He could see his horse dimly in a patch of gorse down the path, where it had sheltered.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • Scented gorse and crimson heather brighten the way.

    Blog text (31)
  • The house had been built on a crest overlooking the city, between two fields of dry gorse and heather where in the summer cows were taken to graze.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • He watched as Ariane ran lightly through the dethorned gorse and plunged through a stream that could not wet her.

    Fiction book (1990)
  • Across the invisible plastic, heather and gorse were in flower; the babble of little brooks coursing into crystalline lakes filled the air.

    Fiction book (1990)

Synonyms

furze
vsgorse
  • UK
1 9.9

A spiny evergreen bush with bright yellow flowers that grows on hills

serves as the modern descriptive name instead of the traditional term
whin
vsgorse
  • UK
1 9.9

A bush with sharp thorns and bright yellow flowers

is the standard descriptive word rather than regional naming
Irish gorse
vsgorse
  • UK
9.6

A very spiny evergreen bush with bright yellow fragrant flowers

is the general descriptive term rather than this specific name
Ulex europaeus
vsgorse
  • Specialized
9.1

A very spiny evergreen bush with bright yellow flowers

is the broader common label rather than this scientific species name
Ulex
vsgorse
  • Specialized
9.9

A spiny shrub with bright yellow flowers that grows in Europe and Asia

refers specifically to the common dense shrub species, not the whole genus
genus Ulex
vsgorse
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of spiny shrubs called gorse that grow in Europe and Asia

focuses on the single dense evergreen shrub species found across western Europe

Compounds

9.6

A very spiny evergreen bush with bright yellow fragrant flowers

9.3

A shrub with many bright yellow flowers that grows in warm places

How Prickly

prickly pear
1 4.3
gorse
  • UK
1 9.1
needle furze
  • UK
9.9
hawthorn
7 5.4
heather
176 4.9

Surface Forms

gorse singular
gorses plural

Etymology

Gorse comes from an old English word gors meaning 'bush' or 'thicket'. That's why gorse is the name for the very spiny, dense shrub with bright yellow flowers you often see on hills and fields.