Thôrn'y, a.
a. [compar. THORNIER; superl. THORNIEST.] [A-S. thornâht, thyrnâht, D. doornig, Ger. dornig, dornicht.]
Sense 1. Full of thorns or spines; rough with thorns; as, a thorny wood; a thorny tree; a thorny diadem or crown.
Sense 2. Sharp; pricking. “Thorny points.” Shak.
Sense 3. Troublesome; vexatious; harassing; perplexing. “Thorny and hard ways.” Spenser. “The steep and thorny way to heaven.” Shak.
Thorny rest-harrow (Bot.), rest-harrow. See REST-HARROW.—Thorny trefoil, a prickly plant of the genus Fagonia.