01 n. A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.
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1.
A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.
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2.
Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Crataegus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn.(Bot.)
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3.
Fig.: That which pricks or annoys as a thorn; anything troublesome; trouble; care.“There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.” — 2 Cor. xii. 7.“The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares, Be only mine.” — Southern.
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4.
The name of the Anglo-Saxon letter �, capital form �. It was used to represent both of the sounds of English th, as in thin, then. So called because it was the initial letter of thorn, a spine.
Phrases & compounds
Thorn apple —
Jamestown weed.
Thorn broom —
a shrub that produces thorns.
Thorn hedge —
a hedge of thorn-bearing trees or bushes.
Thorn hopper —
a tree hopper (Thelia crataegi) which lives on the thorn bush, apple tree, and allied trees.