spinous

adjective

spi·​nous ˈspī-nəs 

1

a

: spiny sense 2

a spinous plant

b

: spiny sense 3

2

: difficult or unpleasant to handle or meet : thorny

Did you know?

English writers have been associating spines with things that are difficult to take since at least 1586, when the English dramatist Thomas Kyd used the word spiny to describe his "cares." "Spinous" took on its figurative use in 1638, when the phrase "spinous criticisms" appeared. "Thorny explications" followed shortly after that, in 1653. Emily Dickinson gets the credit for giving the word prickly its "troublesome" sense. In her 1862 poem that begins "The Child's faith is new," she wrote, "To hold mistaken / His pretty estimates / Of Prickly Things."

Examples of spinous in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There is a possibility of spinous process fracture, a break along the vetebrae that generally heals without long-term damage. —Profootballdoc, sandiegouniontribune.com, 29 Sep. 2017

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing spinous

• spinous process

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Medical Definition

spinous

adjective

spi·​nous ˈspī-nəs 

: slender and pointed like a spine