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buckthorn

[ buhk-thawrn ]
/ ˈbʌkˌθɔrn /

noun

any of several, sometimes thorny trees or shrubs belonging to the genus Rhamnus, especially R. frangula, the bark of which is used in medicine.Compare buckthorn family.
a tree or shrub belonging to the genus Bumelia, of the sapodilla family, especially B. lycioides, a thorny tree having elliptic leaves and large clusters of white flowers, common in the southern and part of the central U.S.

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Origin of buckthorn

1570–80; buck1 + thorn, rendering New Latin cervi spina

Words nearby buckthorn

buckskins, buck slip, buck's party, buckstay, bucktail, buckthorn, buckthorn family, bucktooth, buck up, buckwheat, buckwheat cake
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for buckthorn

British Dictionary definitions for buckthorn

buckthorn
/ (ˈbʌkˌθɔːn) /

noun

any of several thorny small-flowered shrubs of the genus Rhamnus, esp the Eurasian species R. cathartica, whose berries were formerly used as a purgative: family RhamnaceaeSee also sea buckthorn

Word Origin for buckthorn

C16: from buck 1 (from the spiny branches, imagined as resembling antlers) + thorn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012