Spiny

spiny
    adj 1: having spines; "the dorsal fin is spinous" [syn:
           {spinous}, {spiny}] [ant: {spineless}]
    2: 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" [syn:
       {barbed}, {barbellate}, {briary}, {briery}, {bristled},
       {bristly}, {burred}, {burry}, {prickly}, {setose},
       {setaceous}, {spiny}, {thorny}]
    

Spiny \Spin"y\, a. [From {Spine}.]
   1. Full of spines; thorny; as, a spiny tree.
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   2. Like a spine in shape; slender. "Spiny grasshoppers sit
      chirping." --Chapman.
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   3. Fig.: Abounding with difficulties or annoyances.
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            The spiny deserts of scholastic philosophy. --Bp.
                                                  Warburton.
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   {Spiny lobster}. (Zool.) Same as {Rock lobster}, under
      {Rock}. See also {Lobster}.
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Spiny \Spin"y\, n.
   See {Spinny}.
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72 Moby Thesaurus words for "spiny":
      Herculean, abstruse, acanthoid, acanthous, acicular, acuate,
      aculeate, aculeiform, acuminate, acute, arduous, barbed, brutal,
      complex, cornuted, critical, cusped, cuspidate, delicate,
      demanding, difficile, difficult, exacting, formidable, hairy, hard,
      hard-earned, hard-fought, hispid, horned, horny, intricate,
      jawbreaking, knotted, knotty, laborious, mean, mucronate,
      needle-pointed, needle-sharp, nettlesome, no picnic, not easy,
      operose, pointed, prickly, pronged, rigorous, rough, rugged,
      set with thorns, severe, sharp-pointed, spiculate, spiked, spiky,
      spined, spinous, steep, strenuous, tapered, tapering, thorny,
      ticklish, tined, toilsome, toothed, tough, tricky, unbated, uphill,
      wicked