thorny, a.
(ˈθɔːnɪ)
[OE. þorniᵹ, f. thorn n. + -iᵹ, -y. Cf. MHG. dornic.]
1. a. Abounding in, characterized by, or consisting of thorns or spines; spiny, prickly.
| a 1023 Wulfstan Hom. xlviii. (Napier) 246 Ᵹeheᵹa þine earan mid þorniᵹum heᵹe. a 1225 Ancr. R. 134 Heo makieð frommard hore nest—softe wiðuten, & þorni wiðinnen. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xviii. xix. (Bodl. MS.), Þe Cameles mete is þorny and harde. 1456 Coventry Leet Bk. 291 Weryng þe Thorny crowne yn worship of Jhesu. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. Ind. ii. 59 Daphne roming through a thornie wood. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 490 On Shrubs they browze, and..thorny Brambles crop. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. lxix. 6, I found a wood with thorny boughs. |
b. Of an animal (or a part of one): Having thorn-like organs or appendages; spiny. See also 4.
| c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. vi. lx, Sea Porcupine... This thorny Fish is a sort of Sea Hedge-hog. 1743 Zollman in Phil. Trans. XLII. 463 Those Caterpillars which, from the Figure and the Stiffness of their Hairs, have been called the Thorny ones. 1756 T. Amory Buncle (1825) I. 250 The perch [with] the thorny fins on its back. |
2. Abounding in thorn-bearing or prickly plants; overgrown with thorns or brambles. Also
fig. thorny ground,
fig. after the parable of the sower,
Matt. xiii. 7, etc. Often
attrib.| c 1000 ælfric Hom. I. 342 Se yrðling lufað ðone æcer, ðe æfter ðornum..wæstmas aᵹifð, swiðor þonne he lufiᵹe ðone ðe ðorniᵹ næs, ne wæstmbære ne bið. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 52 This gat es stany and thornye. c 1440 Gesta Rom. viii. 19 (Harl. MS.) Þe wey toward þe Cite was stony, þorny, and scroggy. 1593 Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, v. iv. 67 The thornie Wood, Which..Must by the Roots be hew'ne vp yet ere Night. 1657 J. Watts Dipper Sprinkled 93, I was a High⁓way side Hearer, a Thorny-ground Auditor. 1735 Somerville Chace i. 259 He..in the thorny Brake Torn and embarrass'd bleeds. 1799 Mary Titherington Diary in Life 13, I am but too much a thorny-ground hearer. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 150 There are lots of game here, and a nice thorny country. |
3. fig. a. Pricking or piercing to the mind; full of points painful or wounding to the feelings; painful, distressing; harassing, vexatious, irritating.
| a 1340 Hampole Psalter xvii. 36 All þe thorny & þe lairy besynes of þis warld. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia iii. (R.), It was easily seen it was a very thorny abode he made there. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 94 The thorny point Of bare distresse, hath tane from me the shew Of smooth ciuility. 1728 Young Love Fame v. 252 Thorny care, and rank and stinging hate. 1868 Lynch Rivulet cxl. vi, That thorny cares may yield sweet fruits. |
b. Full of points of contention or difficulty; difficult to handle; delicate, ticklish.
| 1653 tr. Hales' Dissert. de Pace x. 48 In these so subtil and thorny explications, if they..chance to erre, shall they presently be termed the enemies of God and Christ? 1675 Traherne Chr. Ethics 25 Prudence is that knowledge, by which we guide our selves in thorny and uncertain affairs. 1793 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 133 This American is an ugly and thorny affair. 1831 Scott Jrnl. 13 Mar., I have finally arranged a thorny transaction. 1907 Athenæum 25 May 638/1 Several of the thorniest questions which have perplexed both ancient and modern logicians. |
4. a. In the names of species or varieties of plants, animals, or shells, characterized by having thorns or spines: prickly, spiny; as
thorny acacia,
thorny asparagus,
thorny clam,
thorny germander,
thorny lobster,
thorny rest-harrow.
Also
thorny apple = thorn-apple;
thorny broom, (
a) the petty whin,
Genista anglica, (
b) the common whin, furze, or gorse;
thorny oyster = thorn-oyster (
thorn n. 8);
thorny palm, the prickly palm of the W. Indies,
Bactrio Plumierana;
thorny trefoil, a thorny shrub of the Mediterranean region,
Fagonia Cretica;
thorny woodcock, a shell of the Indian Ocean,
Murex tenuispina, with long thin closely-set spines. (See also 5 b.)
| 1834 Pringle Afr. Sk. vii. 239 An open grassy meadow..bordered by willow trees and groves of the *thorny acacia [A. horrida, Dornboom]. |
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens iii. lxxxvii. 441 The Names..*Thornie apples, Prickle apples, and Stramonia. |
| 1832 Veg. Subst. Food Man 187 The *thorny asparagus,..beset with sharp spines. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal iii. xviii. 1140 This *thorney Broome is taken for Theophrastus his Scorpius, which Gaza nameth Nepa. |
| 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 81 T[eucrium] Spinosum, *Thorny Germander. |
| 1833 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 7) VII. 502/1 The Palinurus vulgaris, or *thorny lobster, sometimes also termed cray-fish. |
| 1666 J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isles 35 The Prickly or *Thorny-Palm, having that name from the prickliness of it. |
| 1822 Hortus Anglicus II. 233 O[nonis] Spinosa. *Thorny Rest Harrow. |
| 1760 Lee Introd. Bot. App. 353/1 *Thorny Trefoil, of Candia, Fagonia. |
| 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 55/1 Murex Tribulus (Common *Thorny Woodcock). |
b. In other collocations, as
† thorny marrow, the spinal marrow.
| 1662 J. Chandler Van Helmont's Oriat. 195 It is made motive in the thorny marrow or Spina Medullæ. |
5. a. Comb. as
thorny-edged,
thorny-pointed,
thorny-pricking,
thorny-thin,
thorny-twining adjs.| 1594 Kyd Cornelia ii. 269 Whose loftie Towers (like thorny⁓pointed speares). 1596 Edw. III, i. i, Feruent desire,..Is farre more thornie pricking than this blade. 1705 Petiver in Phil. Trans. XXV. 1952 The Thorny-edged Carolina Crab. 1735 Somerville Chace ii. 166 The thorny-twining Hedge. 1885 Hel. G. Cone in Atlantic Monthly Apr. 451 What lifeless laughter, crackling thorny-thin? |
b. Special
Combs.:
thorny-back, (
a) the thornback; (
b) the stickleback; (
c) the river perch;
thorny devil = Moloch 2.
thorny-ribs (see
quot.);
thorny-shell, a univalve mollusc,
Voluta spinosa.
| 1810 P. Neill List Fishes 28 (Jam.) *Thorny-back (Raia clavata). 1869 Chater's Tyneside Alm. 13 (E.D.D.) Here may be fund the thorney-back, the Poheed an' Tommy Lodjor. |
| 1899 Strand Mag. June 653 The Western Australians..describe it [sc. the moloch lizard] familiarly as the ‘*thorny devil’. 1932 Discovery Nov. 364/2 The Thorny Devil,..a sturdy creature about a foot long, covered with horny spikes and knobs, killed a puff adder with its tail. 1975 H. G. Cogger Reptiles & Amphibians Austral. 226/1 Thorny devil or Moloch... An unmistakable lizard, unique in scalation and form. |
| c 1711 Petiver Gazophyl. viii. lxxviii, Limington *Thorney-ribs... A sort of Fossil Murex. |
| 1713 Petiver Aquat. Anim. Amboinæ Tab. iii, Voluta spinosa..River *Thorney-shell. |