Definition of Thorny

1. Adjective. Bristling with perplexities. "The thorny question of states' rights"

Similar to: Difficult, Hard

2. Adjective. Having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.. "Setaceous whiskers"

Definition of Thorny

1. a. Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown.

Definition of Thorny

1. Adjective. having thorns or spines ¹

2. Adjective. troublesome or vexatious ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Thorny

1. full of thorns [adj THORNIER, THORNIEST] : THORNILY [adv]

Medical Definition of Thorny

1. 1. Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown. 2. Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. "The thorny point of bare distress." "The steep and thorny way to heaven. " (Shak) Thorny rest-harrow, rest-harrow. Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia (F. Cretica, etc). Origin: Cf. AS. Thorniht. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Thorny

thorninesses
thorning
thornless
thornlike
thornproof
thornproofs
thorns
thorns in someone's side
thornset
thorntail
thorntails
thoro
thorogummite
thoroly
thoron
thoronol
thorons
thorosteenstrupine
thorotrast
thorough
thorough-girt
thorough-going
thorough-pin

Literary usage of Thorny

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Concordance to the English Poems of Thomas Gray by Albert Stanburrough Cook, Concordance Society (1908)
"Wallows beneath the thorny shade. ... 94. tost On the thorny bed of Pain, Vic. 46. Those. The stings of Falshood those shall try, Eton 75. ..."

2. The Horticulturist, and Journal of Rural Art and Rural TasteGardening (1851)
"one, and has not exactly thorns, but branches which become somewhat thorny and resisting. It naturally forms a thicket with a good many branches, ..."

3. Trees and Tree-planting by James Sanks Brisbin (1888)
"Uses of the thorny and Thornless Varieties, and their Characteristics. ... The thornless locust is best for forests, and the thorny variety for hedges. ..."

4. The Living Age by Making of America Project, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell (1846)
"... of shedding the light of their mind on that which is obscure ; of clearing to the uninitiated the thorny paths that lead to the temple of science. ..."

5. The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with Its Organization by Georges Cuvier, Edward Griffith, Charles Hamilton Smith, Edward Pidgeon, John Edward Gray, George Robert Gray (1829)
"Pursuant to our plan, we shall here avoid a repetition of, or enlargement on, the generic and specific details of the text, and keep clear of the thorny ..."

6. The Chief American Poets: Selected Poems by Bryant, Poe, Emerson, Longfellow by Curtis Hidden Page (1905)
"... albeit she wander outcast now, I see To the awful verge of manhood, as the energy sublime Of a century bursts full-blossomed on the thorny stem of Time. ..."

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