Definition of Spiny

1. Adjective. Having spines. "The dorsal fin is spinous"

Exact synonyms: Spinous
Antonyms: Spineless

2. Adjective. Having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.. "Setaceous whiskers"

Definition of Spiny

1. a. Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree.

2. n. See Spinny.

Definition of Spiny

1. Adjective. covered in spines or thorns ¹

2. Adjective. troublesome; difficult or vexing ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Spiny

1. bearing or covered with thorns [adj SPINIER, SPINIEST]

Medical Definition of Spiny

1. 1. Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree. 2. Like a spine in shape; slender. "Spiny grasshoppers sit chirping." 3. Abounding with difficulties or annoyances. "The spiny deserts of scholastic philosophy." (Bp. Warburton) Spiny lobster. Same as Rock lobster, under Rock. See also Lobster. Origin: From Spine. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Spiny

spinthariscope
spinthariscopes
spinto
spintos
spintronic
spintronics
spinula
spinulae
spinule
spinules
spinulose
spinward
spinworthy
spiny-finned fish
spiny-headed worm
spiny anteater
spiny anteaters
spiny dogfish
spiny lizard
spiny lobster
spiny lobsters
spiny oyster
spiny puffer
spiny softshell
spiny softshell turtle
spiny spider crab
spiny spider crabs

Literary usage of Spiny

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture: A Discussion for the Amateur, and by Liberty Hyde Bailey (1914)
"spiny, 6-8-angled succulent shrub often grown under names of E. virosa and ... spiny succulent with branches V-shaped in cross- section, and clustered on a ..."

2. Cyclopedia of American Horticulture: Comprising Suggestions for Cultivation by Liberty Hyde Bailey, Wilhelm Miller (1900)
"Lvs. 5-5% ft. long, dark green above, paler beneath ; segments lanceolate, acuminate, 2 ft. long, 3%-3% in. wide, their margins entire, spiny in young ..."

3. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine by Nathaniel Lloyd and Company (1900)
"Mesothorax : there are three spiny tubercles on anterior edge (one'above the other) ... Post-thorax as mesothorax except that the spiny tubercles are more ..."

4. Botany by Geological Survey of California, William Henry Brewer, Sereno Watson, Asa Gray (1876)
"Ovary and fruit spiny. 2. C. Emoryi, Engelm. ... Berry succulent or sometimes dry, marked with bristly or spiny areola;, truncate with a wide umbilicus. ..."

5. The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with Its Organization by Georges Cuvier, Edward Griffith, Charles Hamilton Smith, Edward Pidgeon, John Edward Gray, George Robert Gray (1834)
"In some the first dorsal fin, small and spiny, is separated from the ... Others have only a single dorsal fin, or the spiny part is joined to the soft part. ..."

6. The Treasury of Botany: A Popular Dictionary of the Vegetable Kingdom; with by John Lindley (1866)
"The flower-heads are 1 either large and few on the ends of the branches, or numerous and small ; their involucres, made up of many spiny-pointed scales, ..."

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