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.
(sometimes not capital)
the emblem of this Order
membership of this Order
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
before 900; Middle English thistel, Old English; cognate with Dutch distel, German Distel, Old Norse thistill
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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 its allure is being winnowed away by the noxious Russian thistle, the spread of which is entirely the fault of the ceaseless and unforgiving prairie wind.
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
Like many weeds, the thistle does really well in areas where the soil has been disturbed, says Erica Fleishman, an Oregon State University professor and director of the Oregon Climate Research Institute.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 5, 2024
It had a hole I could stick my thumb through, and bits of thistle somehow poked through the stitches.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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.
