blackthorn

[blak-thawrn]

noun

1. a shrub or tree of the genus Crataegus, as C. calpodendron.

2. a walking stick made of a blackthorn tree or shrub.

3. Also called sloe. a much-branched, thorny, Old World shrub, Prunus spinosa, having white flowers and small plumlike fruits.

4. pear haw.

blackthorn

/ ˈblækˌθɔːn /

noun

1. Also called: sloe. a thorny Eurasian rosaceous shrub, Prunus spinosa , with black twigs, white flowers, and small sour plumlike fruits

2. a walking stick made from its wood

Word History and Origins

Origin of blackthorn¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, blackthorn is from Middle English blak thorn. See black, thorn

Example Sentences

There is little diversity on the majority of the 146-acre land, with nearly all fields grazed by sheep, but there are some wetter areas and some hedgerows of blackthorn, hawthorn, hazel, oak, gorse and holly.

Read more on BBC

Sloe gin’s origins go back to the hedgerows of blackthorn bushes that served as fences all across England when common farmland was divvied up in the 17th century.

Read more on Washington Times

And this is intriguing, because magpies typically construct their roofs out of hawthorn, blackthorn, and rose stems.

Read more on National Geographic

This month they have mysteriously appeared among their favourite habitat: hawthorn and blackthorn trees on the edge of London, where I and other naturalists watched them flitting between hedgerows.

Read more on BBC

If you can get your hands on some blackthorn berries from your local market, then you can make a bottle of Sloe Gin.

Read more on Fox News