Scotch thistle

American  

noun

1. a tall, prickly plant, Onopordum acanthium, native to Eurasia, having stems and leaves covered with cottony down and solitary purple flower heads: the national emblem of Scotland.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Scotch thistle

Clutching her teddy bear, the curly-haired Princess sits upon Newfoundland's new stamp between a Scotch thistle and an English rose.

From Time Magazine Archive

The opposition did not want to fight but was intent to discover if the new lad in school would keep his ground saying, like the Scotch thistle, Don't touch me.

From Revisiting the Earth by Hill, James Langdon

Of course opinions differ as to what was or is the true Scotch thistle, but of the several varieties of thistles many beliefs are entertained.

From Storyology Essays in Folk-Lore, Sea-Lore, and Plant-Lore by Taylor, Benjamin

The Scotch thistle seemed likely at one stage to usurp the whole grass country.

From The Long White Cloud by Reeves, William Pember

Scotch kale, a variety of kale; Scotch mist, a mist like fine rain; Scotch pebbles, varieties of agate and jasper; Scotch thistle, the national emblem of Scotland.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various