thorn
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thorn
(thôrn)n.
1. Botany
a. A modified branch in the form of a sharp woody structure.
b. Any of various other sharp protuberances, such as a spine.
c. Any of various shrubs, trees, or woody plants bearing such sharp structures.
2. Any of various sharp protuberances on an animal.
3. One that causes sharp pain, irritation, or discomfort: He is a thorn in my side.
4. The runic letter þ, used in Old English, Middle English, and Old Norse manuscripts to represent both the voiceless sound (th) of Modern English thin and the voiced sound (th) of Modern English this, and in modern Icelandic orthography to represent the voiceless sound (th).
[Middle English, from Old English.]
thorn′less adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
thorn
(θɔːn)n
1. (Botany) a sharp pointed woody extension of a stem or leaf. Compare prickle1
2. (Plants)
a. any of various trees or shrubs having thorns, esp the hawthorn
b. the wood of any of these plants
3. (Animals) short for thorn moth
4. (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) a Germanic character of runic origin Þ used in Old and Modern Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative sound of th, as in thin, bath. Its use in phonetics for the same purpose is now obsolete. See theta
5. (Letters of the Alphabet (Foreign)) this same character as used in Old and Middle English as an alternative to edh, but indistinguishable from it in function or sound. Compare edh
6. (Zoology) zoology any of various sharp spiny parts
7. a source of irritation (esp in the phrases a thorn in one's side or flesh)
[Old English; related to Old High German dorn, Old Norse thorn]
ˈthornless adj
Thorn
(toːrn)n
(Placename) the German name for Toruń
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
thorn
(θɔrn)n.
1. a hard, sharp outgrowth on a plant, esp. a sharp-pointed aborted branch.
2. a thorny tree or shrub, as the hawthorne.
3. the wood of such a plant.
4. a runic character (þ), borrowed into the Latin alphabet and used to represent the initial th sounds of thin and they in Old English and of thin in modern Icelandic.
5. a source of continual irritation, trouble, or discomfort (esp. in the phrase thorn in one's side or flesh).
v.t. 6. to prick with a thorn; vex.
[before 900; Middle English, Old English, c. Old Saxon, Old High German, Old Norse thorn, Gothic thaurnus]
thorn′less, adj.
thorn′like`, adj.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
thorn
(thôrn)1. A short, hard, pointed part of a stem or branch of a woody plant.
2. Any of various plants bearing thorns.
Usage It hardly makes a difference whether you get pricked by a thorn or a spine—it hurts just the same. But a person who studies plants might think there was a difference. Scientifically speaking, a thorn is a hard, pointed part of a stem or branch of a woody plant. While the word spine is used loosely to refer to any hard, pointed structure on a plant, it more properly refers to a leaf that has evolved into a narrow, sharp projection to conserve water and protect the stem, which stores water. Thus a cactus has spines but not thorns, and a rose bush and hawthorn have thorns but not spines.
The American Heritage® Student Science Dictionary, Second Edition. Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  thorn - something that causes irritation and annoyance; "he's a thorn in my flesh"bother, botheration, pain in the neck, infliction, annoyance, pain - something or someone that causes trouble; a source of unhappiness; "washing dishes was a nuisance before we got a dish washer"; "a bit of a bother"; "he's not a friend, he's an infliction" |
| 2. |  thorn - a small sharp-pointed tip resembling a spike on a stem or leafaculeus - a stiff sharp-pointed plant process glochid, glochidium - a barbed spine or bristle (often tufted on cacti) | |
| 3. | thorn - a Germanic character of runic origin rune, runic letter - any character from an ancient Germanic alphabet used in Scandinavia from the 3rd century to the Middle Ages; "each rune had its own magical significance" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
thorn
thorn in your side irritation, nuisance, annoyance, trouble, bother, torture, plague, curse, pest, torment, hassle (informal), scourge, affliction, irritant, bane She's a real thorn in his side.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
thorn
noun2. One that makes another totally miserable by causing sharp pain and irritation:
Informal: pain.
Idioms: pain in the neck, thorn in the flesh.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
TranslationsSelect a language:
Spanish / Español
espinathorn
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
thorn
(θoːn) noun a hard, sharp point sticking out from the stem of certain plants. She pricked her finger on a thorn.espina
ˈthorny adjective1. full of or covered with thorns. a thorny branch.espinoso
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
thorn
→ espinaMultilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
thorn
n espinaEnglish-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.