thornback — ozdic

Collocations

2

VERB + THORNBACK

called

THORNBACK + NOUN

bachelors, i'd, spinster

Definitions

noun

1

Any animal with a thorny back, especially marine animals, such as:

2

Any animal with a thorny back, especially marine animals, such as:

3

Any animal with a thorny back, especially marine animals, such as:

4

A woman over a certain age (variously 26 or 30) who has never married, older than a spinster.

[A] society of honest gentlemen [is holding a lottery] for the benefit of all single ladies, widows, maids, or thornbacks […]

Spinsters. — In a society where marriages were formed very early, girls often wedding at sixteen or under, […] At the age of thirty a spinster was called a "thornback ,” but bachelors and thornbacks were not the only people who […]

Thesaurus

Synonyms

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

Example Bank

3

01

[A] society of honest gentlemen [is holding a lottery] for the benefit of all single ladies, widows, maids, or thornbacks […]

Wiktionary

02

Spinsters. — In a society where marriages were formed very early, girls often wedding at sixteen or under, […] At the age of thirty a spinster was called a "thornback ,” but bachelors and thornbacks w

Wiktionary

03

"And I'll be a thornback spinster! Oh, I'd rather die of the pox than that!" She bolted away to spill her bitter tears out of doors in a place where no one could observe her. Her bold adventure had su

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, thornback is marked as archaic. Watch for register when choosing this word.