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
And since each sphere, though itself dead, seldom carries fewer than 150,000 fertile seeds, and sometimes as many as a quarter of a million, every tumbler leaves a vast wake of potential Russian thistle plants.
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
Within three months of taking milk thistle plus a statin, my numbers were down to normal.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 17, 2024
“I was getting ready to let five of them west acres go to weeds, you know, they’re so choresome to keep the thistle out of.”
From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson
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
Inverness Caley Thistle legend Charlie Christie - the father of Scotland star Ryan - will also be jetting out to the US with his family.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Ray's son Alex is already following his father as a fan of Thistle and the national team - and in knowing how to sign.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2026
He helped Partick Thistle and Norwich win promotion to their respective top flights and was also part of the former's famous 4-1 Scottish League Cup final win over Celtic in 1971.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2025
As Thunder and Thistle began to dig, Woundwort crouched silently behind them, waiting.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
The florist-by-trade gestures behind her to hundreds of flowers contained in buckets — blue thistles, ivory anemones and calla lilies painted silver — all twisted and unfurling into the air.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 2, 2026
Most thistles are weeds that are extremely prickly but have beautiful flowers.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 22, 2023
Modern cheesemakers in countries other than France often use other sources of rennet, such as microbial rennet derived from fungi or vegetal rennet from thistles, to coagulate their cheeses.
From Salon ● Feb. 20, 2023
It's native to the Norfolk Broads where it feeds on flowers including thistles.
From BBC ● May 25, 2022
Most peculiar of all, the bound knight’s shield carried the three thistles and the chevron, with a red canton.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
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.
