Illustration of thistle
plural thistles
1
: any of various composite (see composite entry 1 sense 1b) flowering plants (especially genera Carduus, Cirsium, and Onopordum) that have prickles on their leaves and sometimes on their stems and often have showy heads of tubular, usually purple flowers
also
: any of various other prickly plants
2
often thistle seed plural thistle seeds
: the small black seed of a tropical African herbaceous plant (Guizotia abyssinica) used especially as a source of oil and for bird feed
Examples of thistle in a Sentence
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Starters include delicious ‘cheese balls’ or pan frito, made with cotija cheese, serrano chile, chestnut butter and pine thistle, a wagyu tri-tip kebab + perilla leaf, blue prawn tostada and a sea urchin stew.
—
Michael Goldstein, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025
Most of the development would be on fields of thistles near several lakes where red kites fly overhead.
—Eshe Nelson, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025
The Cost Of Data Ownership While proprietary data may be the new AI gold, there are thorns and thistles on the way there.
—Kolawole Samuel Adebayo, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
All those records and tapes and spools and switches and knobs feel as much part of the landscape as the thistles, the moss, the crags, the forests.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 Jan. 2025
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Michael Goldstein, Forbes.com, 6 Apr. 2025
Most of the development would be on fields of thistles near several lakes where red kites fly overhead.
—Eshe Nelson, New York Times, 23 Feb. 2025
The Cost Of Data Ownership While proprietary data may be the new AI gold, there are thorns and thistles on the way there.
—Kolawole Samuel Adebayo, Forbes, 25 Feb. 2025
All those records and tapes and spools and switches and knobs feel as much part of the landscape as the thistles, the moss, the crags, the forests.
—Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 25 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for thistle
Cite this Entry
“Thistle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thistle. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
thistle
noun
this·tle
ˈthis-əl 
: any of various prickly plants related to the daisies and having often showy heads of mostly tubular flowers
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