Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Bearing or covered with spines, thorns, or similar stiff projections.
- adjective Shaped like a spine.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Having thorns or spines; full of spines; thorny; prickly.
- Figuratively, thorny; perplexed; difficult; troublesome.
- Thin; slim; slender.
- One of the South American species of Echimys and Loncheres or Nelomys. See cut under
Echimys . - One of several pouched rats of the genus Heteromys.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective Full of spines; thorny.
- adjective Like a spine in shape; slender.
- adjective Fig.: Abounding with difficulties or annoyances.
- adjective (Zoöl.) Same as Rock lobster, under
Rock . See alsoLobster . - noun See
spinny .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective covered in
spines orthorns - adjective
troublesome ;difficult orvexing - noun Archaic form of
spinny .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.
- adjective having spines
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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I mean, discipline -- if ever you'd known discipline -- in the police if you like -- anything -- anywhere where there's what we used to call spiny de cor.
The House on the Beach George Meredith 1868
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I mean, discipline -- if ever you'd known discipline -- in the police if you like -- anything -- anywhere where there's what we used to call spiny de cor.
Complete Project Gutenberg Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868
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I mean, discipline -- if ever you'd known discipline -- in the police if you like -- anything -- anywhere where there's what we used to call spiny de cor.
Complete Short Works of George Meredith George Meredith 1868
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The Houses of Parliament runs one; another casts its spooky glow over Buckingham Palace gardens a sub- Saharan moth called the spiny bollworm puzzled scientists until they discovered a state delegation from Tanzania had stayed with the Queen the week before.
The Guardian World News Martin Wainwright 2011
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Among the fossils found here are acanthodians - the so-called "spiny sharks" which are thought to be the oldest vertebrates to possess true teeth - and what Blais and colleagues consider to be a chondrichthyan, or an early member of the group of cartilaginous fish which includes sharks, skates, and rays today.
Wired Top Stories Brian Switek 2011
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Thalamic input only accounts for five percent of the signals that so-called spiny stellate cells in the cortex receive, even though they drive a good portion of activity throughout the cerebral cortex.
PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories PhysOrg Team 2010
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Thalamic input only accounts for five percent of the signals that so-called spiny stellate cells in the cortex receive, even though they drive a good portion of activity throughout the cerebral cortex.
Scientific Blogging News Account 2010
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Thalamic input only accounts for five percent of the signals that so-called spiny stellate cells in the cortex receive, even though they drive a good portion of activity throughout the cerebral cortex.
PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories 2010
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Properly called the spiny dogfish or spurdog (Squalus acanthias), the chippy's favoured shark is more usually labelled as rock salmon.
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Properly called the spiny dogfish or spurdog (Squalus acanthias), the chippy's favoured shark is more usually labelled as rock salmon.
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