spiny


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

spin·y

 (spī′nē)
adj. spin·i·er, spin·i·est
1. Bearing or covered with spines, thorns, or similar stiff projections.
2. Shaped like a spine.

spin′i·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

spiny

(ˈspaɪnɪ)
adj, spinier or spiniest
1. (Zoology) (of animals) having or covered with quills or spines
2. (Botany) (of plants) covered with spines; thorny
3. troublesome to handle; puzzling
4. shaped like a spine
ˈspininess n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

spin•y

(ˈspaɪ ni)

adj. spin•i•er, spin•i•est.
1. abounding in or having spines; thorny, as a plant.
2. covered with or having sharp-pointed processes, as an animal.
3. resembling a spine; spinelike.
4. difficult to handle; thorny: a spiny problem.
[1580–90]
spin′i•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.spiny - having spines; "the dorsal fin is spinous"
2.spiny - having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.spiny - having or covered with protective barbs or quills or spines or thorns or setae etc.; "a horse with a short bristly mane"; "bristly shrubs"; "burred fruits"; "setaceous whiskers"
armed - (used of plants and animals) furnished with bristles and thorns
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

spiny

adjective prickly, barbed, thorny, bristly, brambly, briery low spiny bushes of sage
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

spiny

adjective
1. Full of sharp needlelike protuberances:
2. So replete with interlocking points and complications as to be painfully irritating:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
شائِك، مُغَطّى بالشَّوْك
ostnatý
broddóttur, òyrnóttur
dikenliiğneli

spiny

[ˈspaɪnɪ] ADJ (spinier (compar) (spiniest (superl)))
1. [rose] → espinoso; [animal] → con púas
2. [problem] → espinoso
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

spiny

[ˈspaɪni] adj [plant, animal] → couvert(e) d'épines
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

spiny

adj (+er)stach(e)lig; plant alsodornig; spiny lobster (Zool) → Languste f, → Stachelhummer m
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

spiny

[ˈspaɪnɪ] adjcoperto/a di spine
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

spine

(spain) noun
1. the line of linked bones running down the back of humans and many animals; the backbone. She damaged her spine when she fell.
2. something like a backbone in shape or function. the spine of a book.
3. a thin, stiff, pointed part growing on an animal or a plant.
ˈspinal adjective
of or concerned with the backbone. a spinal injury.
ˈspineless adjective
1. of an animal, having no spine; invertebrate.
2. of a person, having a weak character; easily dominated.
ˈspiny adjective
full of, or covered with, spines. a spiny cactus.
spinal cord
a cord of nerve cells running up through the backbone.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
I stretched my limbs, sore and painful from the pricks of the spiny plants, and stared around me at the trees; and, so suddenly that it seemed to jump out of the green tracery about it, my eyes lit upon a black face watching me.
He, indeed, ignorant that the still hour, a cloudless moon, and an open lattice, had revealed to me the secret of his selfish love and false friendship, would have continued smooth and complaisant as ever; but I grew spiny as a porcupine, and inflexible as a blackthorn cudgel; I never had a smile for his raillery, never a moment for his society; his invitations to take coffee with him in his parlour were invariably rejected, and very stiffly and sternly rejected too; his jesting allusions to the directress (which he still continued) were heard with a grim calm very different from the petulant pleasure they were formerly wont to excite.
The genus, or rather family, of Epeira, is here characterized by many singular forms; some species have pointed coriaceous shells, others enlarged and spiny tibiae.
Global Lobster Market, by Species (American lobster, European lobster, Caribbean spiny lobster, Australian spiny lobster, Red Rock Lobster, and Others), Importing Countries (United States, Canada, China, France, China, Hong Kong (SAR) and others) Exporting Countries (Canada, United States, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Others) Forecast
A giant ornate spiny lobster (panulirus ornatus) was caught off the coast of eastern Taitung County and released Wednesday by a local voluntary group that has released more than 300 lobsters over the past six years, according to environmental activist Chi Hsiang-yu.
The discovery of 38 rod opsins in the silver spiny fish astounded scientists.
TWO of DZG's giant beech trees have been felled and branches given to some of our tiniest creatures - three spiny mice.
QUETTA -- Unknown armed men shot dead a man of Hazara community at Spiny Road area of Quetta on Wednesday.
Food, Feeding, Behavior and Habitat preferences of spiny tailed lizard (Uromastyx hardiwickii) in the Thar desert of Rajahastan, 32 (4): 30-32.
QUETTA: Chief Minister Balochistan Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo has expressed dissatisfaction over crops of vegetables which were growing filthy waters at Spiny area of Quetta.Chief Minister Balochistan Abdul Quddus Bizenjo took action against these crops while visiting at Spiny Road on Wednesday and adding that no compromising would be made on health of citizen.
The Balkan spiny loach Sabanejewia balcanica (Karaman, 1922) is a small representative of the family Cobitidae.
Abstract--Recently, it has been suggested that spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) in the western North Atlantic Ocean have a shorter gestation period than the widely cited 2 years, have an asynchronous reproductive cycle, and carry pups in various stages of development.