See Also: but-thorn(medicine)
thorn(dictionary)
thorn(2)(dictionary)
Thorn(medicine)
thorn(1)(dictionary)
thorn apple(medicine)
Thorn's syndrome(medicine)
Thorn, George(medicine)
Thorn test(medicine)
thorn-headed(medicine)

Residual (health) and thorn(1) (iou)


Residual (health)


Remaining tumor.





thorn(1) (iou)



thorn noun.
[Old English Torn = Old Saxon Torn (Dutch doorn), Old & mod. High German dorn, Old Norse Torn, Gothic Taurnus, from Germanic from Indo-European.]
1. A stiff, sharp-pointed, straight or curved woody projection on the stem or Other part of a plant; spec. (Botany) one that represents a modified branch (cf. PRICKLE noun1 3, SPINE 1). OE.
crown of thorns (starfish): see CROWN noun.
Proverb: There is no rose without a thorn.
b. fig. A cause of pain, grief, or trouble. ME.
a thorn in one's flesh, a thorn in one's side, a thorn in the flesh, a thorn in the side a constant annoyance or problem, a source of continual trouble or annoyance. on thorns in a painful state of anxiety or suspense, esp. in fear of being detected.
I. Murdoch All men..carry within their minds some sharp thorn.
2. A thorny bush, shrub, or tree; spec. a hawthorn, Crataegus monogyna (or allied species); a thorn tree, a thorn-bush. OE.
blackthorn, box-thorn, camel's thorn, Christ's thorn, Glastonbury thorn, hawthorn, Jerusalem thorn, orange thorn, etc.
b. Thorn-bushes or thorny branches collectively. Also, the wood of a thorn tree. ME.
c. fig. (with allus. to Matthew 13:7). Something obstructing a course or way or choking growth. ME.
W. Irving The thorns which beset an author in the path of theatrical literature.
3. The letter T, T, used in Old and Middle English, Gothic, and Old Saxon to represent the voiced and voiceless dental fricatives (theta). Cf. ETH. OE.
A spine or spiny projection on an animal. ME.
With specifying word: any of certain geometrid moths, esp. of the genera Ennomos and Selenia (whose larvae feed on hawthorn or related plants). Also thorn moth. M19.
Comb.: thorn-apple a plant of the nightshade family, Datura stramonium, native to N. America, bearing large funnel-shaped white or mauve flowers; the fruit of this plant, a capsule covered with long spines and containing poisonous seeds; also called jimson-weed, stink-weed; thornbill (a) any of various S. American hummingbirds esp. of the genera Chalcostigma and Rhamphomicron, with relatively short bills; (b) any of several small Australian warblers of the genus Acanthiza; thorn-bush = thorn tree below; thorn-hedge a hedge of thorny shrubs; spec. a hedge of hawthorn sets; thorn moth: see sense 5 above; thorn-proof adjective resistant to tearing or puncturing by thorns; thorntail any of various bright green S. American hummingbirds of the genus Popelairia, with projecting outer tail feathers; thorn tree a thorny tree, esp. a hawthorn or (in Africa) an acacia; thornveld S. Afr. veld in which acacias predominate; thornwood woodland composed of thorn trees, esp. (in Africa) acacias.
thornless adjective L18.
thornlike adjective resembling (that of) a thorn; esp. shaped like a thorn: L19.