Thorn

¹ American  

[tawrn] / tɔrn /

noun

1. German name of Toruń.

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thorn ² American  

[thawrn] / θɔrn /

noun

1. a sharp excrescence on a plant, especially a sharp-pointed aborted branch; spine; prickle.

2. any of various thorny shrubs or trees, especially the hawthorns belonging to the genus Crataegus, of the rose family.

3. the wood of any of these trees.

4. a runic character (þ), borrowed into the Latin alphabet and representing the initial th sounds in thin and they in Old English, or thin in modern Icelandic.

5. something that wounds, annoys, or causes discomfort.

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verb (used with object)

1. to prick with a thorn; vex.

idioms

1. thorn in one's side / flesh,  a source of continual irritation or suffering.

   That child is a thorn in the teacher's side.

Thorn ¹ British  

/ toːrn /

noun

1. the German name for Toruń

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thorn ² British  

/ θɔːn /

noun

1. a sharp pointed woody extension of a stem or leaf Compare prickle

2. 1. any of various trees or shrubs having thorns, esp the hawthorn

   2. the wood of any of these plants

3. short for thorn moth

4. a Germanic character of runic origin Þ used in Old and Modern Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative sound of th, as in thin, bath. Its use in phonetics for the same purpose is now obsolete See theta

5. this same character as used in Old and Middle English as an alternative to edh, but indistinguishable from it in function or sound Compare edh

6. zoology any of various sharp spiny parts

7. a source of irritation (esp in the phrases a thorn in one's side or flesh )

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thorn Scientific  

/ thôrn /

1. A short, hard, pointed part of a stem or branch of a woody plant.

2. Compare spine

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Other Word Forms

• thornless adjective
• thornlike adjective
• unthorn verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of thorn

before 900; Middle English (noun), Old English; cognate with Dutch doorn, German Dorn, Old Norse thorn, Gothic thaurnus

Example Sentences

For now, she tries to be a thorn in their side, showing up to meetings.

From Salon

The Realtor group’s membership guidance for MLS usage has long been a thorn in the side of some agents.

From Barron's

Farmers cursed the plant as it dug its thorns into the legs of horses and cowboys.

From The Wall Street Journal

Its poisonous thorns also injure livestock, leaving them too weak to roam for food, he added.

From Barron's

Preven, a well-known government transparency advocate, garnered a reputation as an eagle-eyed observer of local meetings, a savvy wielder of the state’s public records act, and a reliable thorn in the sides of his government.

From Los Angeles Times