thorn (redirected from Thorns)

thorn, in botany

thorn, sharp-pointed projection on some plants, usually protective in function. Botanically, thorns are distinguished as modified stems (as in the honey locust and hawthorn) from spines, which are modified leaves (as in the barberry), and from prickles, which are epidermal outgrowths of the bark (as in the rose and blackberry). Cacti have both thorns and spines.

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Thorn, German name for Toruń, Poland

Thorn: see Toruń, Poland.

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thorn

1. a sharp pointed woody extension of a stem or leaf

2. 

a. any of various trees or shrubs having thorns, esp the hawthorn

b. the wood of any of these plants

3. a Germanic character of runic origin Þ used in Old and Modern Icelandic to represent the voiceless dental fricative sound of th, as in thin, bath. Its use in phonetics for the same purpose is now obsolete

4. this same character as used in Old and Middle English as an alternative to edh, but indistinguishable from it in function or sound

5. Zoology any of various sharp spiny parts

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thorn [thȯrn]

(botany)

A short, sharp, rigid, leafless branch on a plant.

(zoology)

Any of various sharp spinose structures on an animal.

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thorn

the messenger of Satan. [N.T.: II Corinthians 12:7]

See : Messenger