hawthorn Hear it!

hawthorn Definition

haw·thorn (hô′t̸hôrn′)

noun

any of a group of thorny shrubs and small trees (genus Crataegus) of the rose family, with white, pink, or red flowers and usually red fruits (haws) resembling miniature cherries

Etymology: lit., hedge thorn < ME hagethorn < OE hagathorn < haga, hedge, haw + thorn, akin to Ger hagedorn

hawthorn Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • include: Hedges on the slopes and along the narrow lanes include hawthorn, hazel and beech.
  • remove: We will be removing hawthorn from the chalk grasslands and laying a hedge.
  • rise: The species planted are: blackthorn, dogwood, field maple, guelder rose, hawthorn and hazel.
  • contain: The hedges contains hawthorn, hazel, field maple, spindle, rose and holly.
  • use: The hawthorn used to flower around May Day and was central to the ancient customs of the coming of summer.

Preposition: in

blossom: It was there he is struck speechless by the beauty of hawthorns in blossom.

Adjective modifier

  • common: The Glastonbury Thorn is simply a sport of common hawthorn, unusual but not unknown elsewhere.
  • old: An old hawthorn hedge A mixture of species within a native hedgerow is an excellent habitat for small birds and mammals too.
  • hazel: Scrub regeneration includes hazel, elder, hawthorn and sallow.
  • elder: The understorey is a sparse layer of elder, hawthorn with some regenerating cherry.
  • young: Hedge-laying The younger hawthorns between ourselves and our neighbor's gardens were at a perfect stage for laying.

Modifies a noun

  • blossom: Images of natural objects - the broken egg, the pine cones, the trampled hawthorn blossom - carry strong messages of violence.
  • hedge: Hidden in a hawthorn hedge opposite MGM Garden & Leisure.
  • berry: Hawthorn berries are also good for increasing the circulation.
  • scrub: The surrounding hawthorn scrub provides excellent nesting habitat for small birds.
  • bush: He died spell bound by his mistress Vivian, in a hawthorn bush.
  • hedgerow: However, in this LCA, predominantly hawthorn hedgerows are generally overgrown.

Noun used with modifier

  • water: Water lilies in their many varieties and water hawthorn are both lovely and provide shade for the pond's surface.
  • canal-side: Ten or twenty House Martins hawk for insects above the canal-side hawthorns.
  • midland: All the other ancient forest trees in quantity - small leaved lime, hornbeam, sessile oak, midland hawthorn.