hawthorn

American  

[haw-thawrn] / ˈhɔˌθɔrn /

noun

hawthorns plural

1. any of numerous plants belonging to the genus Crataegus, of the rose family, typically a small tree with stiff thorns, certain North American species of which have white or pink blossoms and bright-colored fruits and are cultivated in hedges.

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hawthorn British  

/ ˈhɔːˌθɔːn /

noun

1. Also called (in Britain): may.   may tree.   mayflower.  any of various thorny trees or shrubs of the N temperate rosaceous genus Crataegus, esp C. oxyacantha, having white or pink flowers and reddish fruits (haws)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hawthorny
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hawthorns
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hawthorn

before 900; Middle English; Old English haguthorn, cognate with Middle Dutch hagedorn, Middle High German hagendorn, Old Norse hagthorn. See haw ³, thorn

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hawthorn hawthorns

A hawthorn is a shrub, often used in hedges, whose sharp thorns catch on intruders’ clothes or skin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026

This is a man who would fly back from his home in Los Angeles when he heard the hawthorn had begun to blossom in his native Yorkshire, just so he could paint the dazzling spectacle.

From BBC ● Apr. 8, 2025

An array of whole peeled tangerines, strawberries, hawthorn berries and green and red grapes glistened on my phone screen like jewels you only admire but can’t touch.

From Salon ● Mar. 25, 2025

The scheme also included “duck-blood products from unapproved establishments in China,” as well as hawthorn fruit — a restricted agricultural commodity, authorities said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2024

Harry raised the hawthorn wand beneath the cloak, pointed it at the old goblin, and whispered, for the first time in his life, “Imperio!”

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

In the rosaceae family — a diverse group that includes hawthorns and apple trees — more than a quarter of species are considered threatened, endangered or critically endangered.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 23, 2022

Prospect Park in May is a commotion of beauty: meadows and dense rambles, hills and hollows, everything covered in chokeberries, spicebush, violets, flowering hawthorns, magnolias and lindens.

From New York Times ● Feb. 17, 2021

Tangles of willows, cottonwoods and hawthorns grew alongside the creek and its tributaries.

From Washington Times ● Jun. 18, 2016

Serviceberry bushes and hawthorns framed a bubbling stream, engineered to look like it was flowing naturally through a ponderosa pine forest.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 27, 2011

Lyra felt it first on her cheeks, and then she saw the grass bending under it, and then she heard it in the hawthorns.

From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman