(n.) A hard and sharp-pointed projection from a woody stem; usually, a branch so transformed; a spine.
(n.) Any shrub or small tree which bears thorns; especially, any species of the genus Crataegus, as the hawthorn, whitethorn, cockspur thorn.
(n.) Fig.: That which pricks or annoys as a thorn; anything troublesome; trouble; care.
(n.) 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.
(v. t.) To prick, as with a thorn.
Example Sentences:
(1) But the outspoken journalist and human rights activist has long been a thorn in Ali Abdullah Saleh's side, agitating for press freedoms and staging weekly sit-ins to demand the release of political prisoners from jail – a place she has been several times herself.
(2) Daballen navigates the jeep between thorn bushes and over furrows, guided by a rising moon and his intimate knowledge of the terrain.
(3) Adoption and fostering: ‘The best thing you have ever done’ Read more The process of adopting disabled children was much harder when she first did it in the 1980s, Thorn says, adding that people tended to be bemused as to why any parent would volunteer for the additional work involved in bringing up children with varying needs.
(4) Puncture wounds were cuased in 9 patients by sea urchin spines and 1 patient by a date palm thorn.
(5) Supporters said they were not surprised she had been let go as she had become “a thorn in the flesh” of the DfE after speaking out against government policies.
(6) The call by Denmark’s prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, for the country to stand together echoes the Norwegian response after the massacre at Utøya .
(7) Sperm motion was analysed using the Hamilton-Thorn system before and after incubation and treatment.
(8) Three cases are reported in which pseudotumours developed in the hand following injury by oil palm thorns.
(9) Since becoming Denmark's first female prime minister two years ago, Thorning-Schmidt has had to contend with the media nickname of "Gucci Helle", so called because of her fondness for designer clothes.
(10) Wyden and Udall have been thorns in the side of the intelligence community, using their position on the committee, which permits them privileged access to classified briefings, to repeatedly challenge senior officials on the accuracy of their public testimony.
(11) He said police reports in Sweden showed SW had told a friend, Marie Thorn, that she felt police and others around her "railroaded her" into pressing charges.
(12) Although reviewers' letters may be considered an unnecessary thorn in the side, the improved practice that has resulted from these efforts gives strong support to their continued activities.
(13) In layers V and VI they mainly contact with the dendrite trunks and with the nervous cell bodies and more rarely with thorns.
(14) They gradually displayed active membrane pseudopodia, thorn-like processes and petal-like ruffles after 2 h to 4 h of cultivation.
(15) Other names circulating in EU capitals for the top commission job include the Irish prime minister, Enda Kenny, the outgoing Finnish prime minister on the centre-right, Jyrki Katainen, and the Danish prime minister on the centre-left, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.
(16) Across this relatively peaceful corner of the Horn of Africa, where black-headed sheep scamper among the thorn bushes, dainty gerenuk balance on their hind legs to nibble from hardy shrubs, and skinny camels wearing rough-hewn bells lumber over rocky slopes, people long accustomed to a harsh environment find they cannot cope after years of below-average rainfall.
(17) Synovectomy and removal of the plant thorn usually results in normal joint function.
(18) But, as Aimee Thorne-Thomsen, the vice president for strategic partnerships at Advocates for Youth, wrote in 2010 , rather than focus on if abortion is rare enough to make enough people comfortable, "What if we stopped focusing on the number of abortions and instead focused on the women themselves?"
(19) One teacher, who was hiding in a closet in the math lab, heard Thorne yell, "Put the gun down!"
(20) Based on a correlative radiographic and histologic slab study of the wrists in 50 infants who died of unrelated diseases, the author's chief conclusions are as follow: 1) On the wrist radiograph of the infant, bone bark in the Ranvier's groove may appear as a "thorn-like" bony process on the margins of the metaphysis of the radius and ulna.
Thorny
Definition:
(superl.) Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; spiny; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny crown.
(superl.) Like a thorn or thorns; hence, figuratively, troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing.
Example Sentences:
(1) Thorny issues of racism on the catwalk, of the impact of fashion on our relationship with food, of the decreasing relevance of the traditional catwalk show in the digital age, and of the bloated size of the fashion industry are the topics engrossing the front row.
(2) And ICMP, as it says in its mandate, "provides assistance to governments", so some sort of post-conflict administration would have to be in place in Syria to request help in dealing with the thorny issue of missing persons.
(3) Implementing real joint working VODG chairman Bill Mumford: " How well CCGs and the NHS works with other stakeholders to try and deliver change – together with local authorities and the third and private sector – is a thorny issue.
(4) Unless a replacement guarantee is in place when Britain quits the EU, this could be frozen, she said, adding: “These rights need to be settled before the triggering of article 50 .” Healthcare is another thorny issue with different systems across the continent.
(5) It’s almost like an 80s movie or something – the kind that studios don’t make anymore.” Facebook Twitter Pinterest There is a definite Big Chill vibe to Don’t Think Twice, a comedy that explores the thorny rifts between friends when one person’s newfound success threatens to alienate the group.
(6) The role of the chair is critical in avoiding these sorts of behind the scenes deals and ensuring that thorny issues are aired and treated with due care.
(7) At the same time the red cells became crenated and developed thorny spicules (echinocytes).
(8) 10 Privacy issues loom large There are two thorny issues around lifelogging: your privacy, and that of others.
(9) We kept them at bay.” And when people ask about thorny issues such as Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg’s reversal on tuition fees?
(10) It was not the supposed imminent collapse of the Syrian regime that dominated the recent meeting of the Friends of Syria in Marrakech but the thorny subject of al-Nusra, one of the armed resistance groups operating in the country, which the US has just classified as a "foreign terrorist organisation" .
(11) It may be that a solution to these thorny problems arises from consultation but on the evidence of the draft bill they are not the government's priority.
(12) The thorny issue of local authority role and oversight was pushed back on to a review by one of his predecessors, David Blunkett, with a strong endorsement for tougher regulation of admissions.
(13) On another thorny issue – the cost of travelling into Wales via the Severn bridges – the manifesto says it will support the UK government’s commitment to halve tolls on the crossings.
(14) Once there, they dispersed among the thorny trees looking for patches of sunken ground which suggested something lay buried beneath.
(15) One category, termed short-shaft pyramidal neurons, is characterized by short apical shafts, a large number of thorny excrescences, and densely branched apical and basilar trees.
(16) It signals US displeasure but stops short of a full-blown boycott that could escalate tensions with the Kremlin, at a time when Washington still badly needs Moscow's help on Syria, Iran and other thorny international problems.
(17) But there are thorny issues here which, as Goat grow in prominence, they can no longer ignore.
(18) In conclusion, gamma-ray irradiation destroys the majority of granule cells and induces a reduction in the development of thorny excrescences.
(19) The islands are mainly composed of star-shaped nerve cells with thorny dendrites and an axon extending into the white matter.
(20) But talks have advanced to the make-up of his back-room team at Anfield – his former Dortmund assistant, Zeljko Buvac, and analyst, Peter Krawietz – and the thorny issue of Liverpool’s transfer committee has not discouraged Klopp from wanting the job.