ˈthorn-bush
Any bush that bears thorns; e.g. a hawthorn, a bramble. Also attrib.
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 9 A suynhird smote he to dede vnder a thorn busk. 1483 Cath. Angl. 384/1 A Thorne buske, spinetum. 1535 Coverdale Judg. ix. 15 Then sayde all the trees vnto the thorne buszshe: Come thou, and be kynge ouer vs. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 263, I, the man in the Moone; this thorne bush, my thorne bush; and this dog, my dog. 1896 Baden-Powell Matabele Campaign xi, I lay up during the heat of the day with a water⁓proof sheet spread over a thorn-bush as a shelter from the sun. 1902 Westm. Gaz. 3 Nov. 3/1 Crossing this thick thorn-bush country in the face of the opposition of a numerous army elated by recent success. |