THORNS

Noun

thorns

plural of thorn

Verb

thorns

Third-person singular simple present indicative form of thorn

Anagrams

• norths

Source: Wiktionary

THORN

Thorn, n. Etym: [AS. þorn; akin to OS. & OFries. thorn, D. doorn, G. dorn, Dan. torn, Sw. törne, Icel. þorn, Goth. þaúrnus; cf. Pol. tarn, Russ. tern' the blackthorn, ternie thorns, Skr. trsnsa grass, blade of grass. *53.]

1. A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.

2. (Bot.)

Definition: Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Cratægus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn.

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.

4. The name of the Anglo-Saxon letter th, as in thin, then. So called because it was the initial letter of thorn, a spine. Thorn apple (Bot.), Jamestown weed.

– Thorn broom (Bot.), a shrub that produces thorns.

– Thorn hedge, a hedge of thorn-bearing trees or bushes.

– Thorn devil. (Zoöl.) See Moloch, 2.

– Thorn hopper (Zoöl.), a tree hopper (Thelia cratægi) which lives on the thorn bush, apple tree, and allied trees.

Thorn, v. t.

Definition: To prick, as with a thorn. [Poetic] I am the only rose of all the stock That never thorn'd him. Tennyson.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition