thorn
thorn definition
thorn (t̸hôrn)
noun
- a very short, hard, leafless branch or stem with a sharp point
- any small tree or shrub bearing thorns, as a hawthorn
- the wood of any of these trees
- prickle
- a sharp, pointed protuberance on an animal; spine
- anything that keeps troubling, vexing, or irritating one, like a constantly pricking thornusually in the phrase thorn in one's side (or flesh) thorn in one's side (or flesh)
- a rune in the Old English and Old Norse alphabets (þ), used to represent the voiced or voiceless apicodental fricative: in Middle English orthography it was gradually replaced by th
Etymology: ME < OE, akin to Ger dorn < IE *(s)ter-, prickly plant (< base *ster-, to be stiff) > Gr ternax, cactus stem
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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