blackthorn
Americannoun
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a shrub or tree of the genus Crataegus, as C. calpodendron.
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a walking stick made of a blackthorn tree or shrub.
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Also called sloe. a much-branched, thorny, Old World shrub, Prunus spinosa, having white flowers and small plumlike fruits.
noun
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Also called: sloe. a thorny Eurasian rosaceous shrub, Prunus spinosa , with black twigs, white flowers, and small sour plumlike fruits
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a walking stick made from its wood
Etymology
Origin of blackthorn
First recorded in 1350–1400, blackthorn is from Middle English blak thorn. See black, thorn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And this is intriguing, because magpies typically construct their roofs out of hawthorn, blackthorn, and rose stems.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 17, 2023
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.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2023
The hole has the only tree at Royal St. George’s, a stunted blackthorn right of the green.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 9, 2021
As David O’Hara began reading the third chapter, a man leaning on a blackthorn stick pulled out his copy of Ulysses to read along.
From New York Times ● Jun. 16, 2017
“I don’t know. We could do with an unbeatable wand,” said Harry, turning the blackthorn wand he so disliked over in his fingers.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
