| 释义 |
thorn
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 |