Thistle

Definitions

1. Any of several perennial composite plants, especially of genera Cirsium, Carduus, Cynara, or Onopordum, having prickly leaves and showy flower heads with prickly bracts.
2. A surname.
3. This plant seen as the national emblem of Scotland.
4. An image of this plant used as a charge.
5. The Order of the Thistle, or membership thereof.

Equivalents

Examples

“Thorns also and thistles shall it bring⟳ forth to thee; and thou shalt eat⟳ the herb of the field [...].”

“I wasn’t born of a whistle, or milked from a thistle at twilight / No; I was all horns and thorns, sprung out fully formed, knock-kneed and upright”

“Here's a passage which will please⟳ you: ‘It is said that when rich he twice refused the thistle.’”

CEFR level