- a small sharp, pointed part on the stem of some plants, such as rosesTopics Plants and treesc2
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- a tree or bush that has thorns see also blackthorn, hawthorn
- the letter that was used in Old English and Icelandic to represent the sounds /θ/ and /ð/ and later written as thTopics Languagec2
Word OriginOld English, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch doorn and German Dorn.
Idioms
See thorn in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarya thorn in somebody’s flesh/side
- a person or thing that repeatedly annoys somebody or stops them from doing something
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