I. ˈthȯ(ə)rn, -ȯ(ə)n noun
( -s )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin to Old High German dorn thorn, Old Norse thorn, Gothic thaurnus thorn, Sanskrit tṛṇa grass, blade of grass
1.
a. : a woody plant bearing briers, prickles, spines, or other sharp impeding process
b. : a plant of the genus Crataegus : as
(1) : hawthorn
(2) : pear haw
c. : the wood of a thorn ; especially : the tough hard wood of a hawthorn or blackthorn
d. : a growth or thicket of thorn
2.
a. : a sharp rigid process on a plant ; specifically : a short, indurated, sharp-pointed, and leafless branch developed from a bud in a manner typical to a leafy branch — compare prickle , spine
b. : any of various sharp spinose structures on an animal (as the spines of a sea urchin's test)
c. : something that affects like a thorn (as by pricking, stinging, or hurting) : a cause of irritation or source of distress
had been a nagging thorn to her husband through 40 years of marriage
3.
[Middle English, runic letter þ, thorn (plant), thorn (process on a plant) from Old English]
: the runic letter þ used in Old English and Middle English for either of the sounds of Modern English th (as in thin, then ) and in Icelandic in early use for either of the same two sounds but in modern use only for th as in thin — see anglo-saxon alphabet ; compare edh
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Middle English thornen, from thorn, n.
1. : to cause to be thorny ; especially : to provide (as a newly set hedge) with a protection of thorny brush
2. : to prick with or as if with a thorn : annoy , irritate , harass