Meaning

4 senses
  1. Any animal with a thorny back, especially marine animals, such as:

    The thornback guitarfish (Platyrhinoidis triseriata), a species of ray in the north-eastern Pacific Ocean.

  2. The thornback ray or thornback skate (Raja clavata), a species of ray in the Atlantic Ocean.

  3. The thornback skate (Dentiraja lemprieri), a fish endemic to Australia.

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

Origin

From Middle English thornbak; equivalent to thorn + back.

From Middle English thornbak; equivalent to thorn + back.

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Forms

plural: thornbacks
Singularthornback
Pluralthornbacks

regular

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
thornback — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto