Search the Dictionary

Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



39 words match “THORNY”

THORNY a. 2 definitions
Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown.
ANGELICA n.
The candied leaf stalks of angelica. Angelica tree, a thorny North American shrub (Aralia spinosa), called also Hercules' club.
ASPALATHUS n.
A thorny shrub yielding a fragrant oil. Ecclus. xxiv. 15.
ASSAIL v.
r meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like. The thorny wilds the woodmen fierce assail. Pope.
BLACKTHORN n.
A spreading thorny shrub or small tree (Prunus spinosa), with blackish bark, and bearing little black plums, which are called sloes; the sloe.
BRAKY a.
Full of brakes; abounding with brambles, shrubs, or ferns; rough; thorny. In the woods and braky glens. W. Browne.
BRAMBLE n.
genus Rubus, including the raspberry and blackberry. Hence: Any rough, prickly shrub. The thorny brambles, and embracing bushes. Shak.
BRIERY a.
Full of briers; thorny.
CAATINGA n.
A forest composed of stunted trees and thorny bushes, found in areas of small rainfall in Brazil.
CHAPARAJOS n.
kin or leather, usually open at the back, worn, esp. by cowboys, to protect the legs from thorny bushes, as in the chaparral; -- called also chapareras or colloq. chaps. [Sp. Amer.]
CHAPARRAL n.
An almost impenetrable thicket or succession of thickets of thorny shrubs and brambles. Chaparral cock; fem. Chaparral hen (Zoöl.), a bird of the cuckoo family (Geococcyx Californianus), noted for running with great speed. It ranges from California to Mexico and eastward to Texas; -- called also road runner, ground cuc…
CHRIST'S-THORN n.
One of several prickly or thorny shrubs found in Palestine, especially the Paliurus aculeatus, Zizyphus Spina-Christi, and Z. vulgaris. The last bears the fruit called jujube, and may be considered to have been the most readily obtainable for the Crown of Thorns.
FURZE n.
A thorny evergreen shrub (Ulex Europæus), with beautiful yellow flowers, very common upon the plains and hills of Great Britain; -- called also gorse, and whin. The dwarf furze is Ulex nanus.
GOOSEBERRY n.
Any thorny shrub of the genus Ribes; also, the edible berries of such shrub. There are several species, of which Ribes Grossularia is the one commonly cultivated.
GREEN a.
; containing its natural juices; as, green wood, timber, etc. Shak. Green brier (Bot.), a thorny climbing shrub (Emilaz rotundifolia) having a yellowish green stem and thick leaves, with small clusters of flowers, common in the United States; -- called also cat brier. -- Green con (Zoöl.), the pollock. -- Green crab…
GROUND n.
sometimes, but not always, the same as the root. -- Ground furze (Bot.), a low slightly thorny, leguminous shrub (Ononis arvensis) of Europe and Central Asia,; -- called also rest- harrow. -- Ground game, hares, rabbits, etc., as distinguished from winged game. -- Ground hele (Bot.), a perennial herb (Veronica offi…
HAWTHORN n.
A thorny shrub or tree (the Cratægus oxyacantha), having deeply lobed, shining leaves, small, roselike, fragrant flowers, and a fruit called haw. It is much used in Europe for hedges, and for standards in gardens. The American hawthorn is Cratægus cordata, which has the leaves but little lobed. Gives not the hawthorn b…
HENNA n.
A thorny tree or shrub of the genus Lawsonia (L. alba). The fragrant white blossoms are used by the Buddhists in religious ceremonies. The powdered leaves furnish a red coloring matter used in the East to stain the hails and fingers, the manes of horses, etc.
INTERTEXTURE n.
terwoven. "Knit in nice intertexture." Coleridge. Skirted thick with intertexture firm Of thorny boughs. Cowper.
MATRIMONY n.
A kind of game at cards played by several persons. Matrimony vine (Bot.), a climbing thorny vine (Lycium barbarum) of the Potato family. Gray.
← Previous Page 1 of 2 Next →