DICT.TW Dictionary Taiwan

 Thorn n.
 1. A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.
 2. Bot. Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Crataegus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn.
 3. Fig.: That which pricks or annoys as a thorn; anything troublesome; trouble; care.
    There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me.   --2 Cor. xii. 7.
 The guilt of empire, all its thorns and cares,
 Be only mine.   --Southern.
 4. The name of the Anglo-Saxon letter ░, capital form ░. It was used to represent both of the sounds of English th, as in thin, then. So called because it was the initial letter of thorn, a spine.
 Thorn apple Bot., Jamestown weed.
 Thorn broom Bot., a shrub that produces thorns.
 Thorn hedge, a hedge of thorn-bearing trees or bushes.
 Thorn devil. Zool. See Moloch, 2.
 Thorn hopper Zool., a tree hopper (Thelia crataegi) which lives on the thorn bush, apple tree, and allied trees.