Thorn , v. t. To prick, as with a thorn. [Poetic]
I am the only rose
of all the stock
That never thorn'd him.
Tennyson.
Thorn (?), n. [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. t&rsdot;&nsdot;a 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.) 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 &?;, capital form &?;. It was used to represent both of the sounds of
English 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.
Hear it pronounced