thistle
noun
any of various prickly, composite plants having showy, purple flower heads, especially of the genera Cirsium, Carduus, or Onopordum.
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thistle
American
[this-uhl]
/ ˈθɪs əl /
noun
-
thistles
plural
-
any of various prickly, composite plants having showy, purple flower heads, especially of the genera Cirsium, Carduus, or Onopordum.
-
any of various other prickly plants.
Thistle
1
British
/ ˈθɪsəl /
noun
-
(sometimes not capital)
-
the emblem of this Order
-
membership of this Order
-
thistle
2
British
/ ˈθɪsəl /
noun
-
any of numerous plants of the genera Cirsium, Carduus , and related genera, having prickly-edged leaves, pink, purple, yellow, or white dense flower heads, and feathery hairs on the seeds: family Asteraceae (composites)
-
a thistle, or a representation of one, as the national emblem of Scotland
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of thistle
before 900; Middle English thistel, Old English; cognate with Dutch distel, German Distel, Old Norse thistill
Vocabulary lists containing thistle
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.
See Examples For:
Among England's Tudor rose, Scotland's thistle, the Welsh leek and the Irish shamrock are the Canadian maple leaf and India's lotus flower.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2025
But Russian thistle is a monstrous piece of botanical grotesquerie, loathed by all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 17, 2025
Researchers from the University of Cologne have found a new use for Cnicin, a substance produced in blessed thistle.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024
A Marin County park ranger was visiting her in-laws two weeks ago when she spotted a baby hummingbird hovering over a thistle in their backyard — or so she thought.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2023
I asked Sahil if he knew what musk thistle looked like so we could keep an eye out for Skid, but he just laughed and said no, he did not.
From "From Twinkle, with Love" by Sandhya Menon
Last year, zoo officials took in a trio of 3-month-old cubs, Fern, Thistle, and Spruce, after their mom was struck and killed by a car.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
Representatives for Factor and Thistle said they had no record of providing any quotes to A Step to Freedom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Sammy Johnston:, external Played more than 200 times for St Johnstone and also featured for clubs such as Partick Thistle and Glenavon.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
They followed that up by swatting aside Partick Thistle 4-0 in the quarter-final at Firhill.
From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2025
“You’re in no position to bargain with us. There’s nothing more to be said. Thistle, go back and tell Captain Vervain I want everyone up here at once.”
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
"The only things that started growing were docks and thistles," said Pawsey, whose entire quinoa crop failed.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
John Pickles, a "postcode gardener" with Friends of the Earth, said a patch of grass on the Orchard Park estate had been brought to life with flowers including ox-eye daisies, purple thistles and yellow poppies.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Most thistles are weeds that are extremely prickly but have beautiful flowers.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2023
Bellatine names their new possession Thistlefoot, remembering her mother’s comment that “people in our family, we’re born with thistles in our feet. It’s why we’re always traveling.”
From Washington Post ● Sep. 27, 2022
No tree grew there, only rough grass and many tall plants: stalky and faded hemlocks and wood-parsley, fire-weed seeding into fluffy ashes, and rampant nettles and thistles.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
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.
