"blackthorn winter" meaning in English

See blackthorn winter in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: blackthorn winters [plural]
Etymology: So-called because it (typically) falls when blackthorn is flowering. Head templates: {{en-noun}} blackthorn winter (plural blackthorn winters)
  1. (especially rustic UK) A period of cold weather in spring or early summer (March, April or May). Categories (topical): Temperature, Winter Synonyms: blackberry winter Coordinate_terms: blackberry winter
    Sense id: en-blackthorn_winter-en-noun-6Dzoy~2h Categories (other): British English, English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_text": "So-called because it (typically) falls when blackthorn is flowering.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "blackthorn winters",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "blackthorn winter (plural blackthorn winters)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "British English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Temperature",
          "orig": "en:Temperature",
          "parents": [
            "Nature",
            "Weather",
            "All topics",
            "Atmosphere",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Winter",
          "orig": "en:Winter",
          "parents": [
            "Seasons",
            "Nature",
            "Periodic occurrences",
            "All topics",
            "Time",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "coordinate_terms": [
        {
          "word": "blackberry winter"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1885, Great Britain. Meteorological Office, British Rainfall, page 98:",
          "text": "Blackthorn winters were most severe; (I.) a week at the end of March; (II.) April 13th to 26th. Two perennial springs, in different ranges of hills, failed.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1888 May 19, The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, section Blackthorn Winter, page 590",
          "text": "An inveterate custom of English conversation, combined with the engaging versatility of the English climate, from which the custom derives both its origin and its vigour, must be our excuse for devoting some specific attention to this branch of the English weather. … In similar fashion we made observe, mutatis mutandis, of the blackthorn winter that, though small, it is peculiarly bitter. … Providence does not invariably temper the wind of the blackthorn winter for him. On the contrary, he too often finds that a balmy north-easter will effectually temper the rise of the May-fly, …"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1957, John Collier, His Monkey Wife: or Married to a Chimp, →ISBN, page 62:",
          "text": "[...] when, sick for home, she stood in tears amid the alien corn, the chimp's sad heart was charmed by no nightingale, for the bird had not yet returned to Stotfield, and what corn was showing was but a scanty acid green, ragged among the flints of those chilly fields. It was the blackthorn winter, and Emily, who had been sent out to gather primroses, found the thin stuff dress she now wore, designed by Amy to resemble the drabbest of charity child's garments, to be but a miserable covering ...",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Brian Lee, Fields and Hedgerows:",
          "text": "A similar term was 'blackthorn winter', which perhaps referred to the frequent cold snaps that occur when the sloes, or blackthorns, flower in late March or April. Blackthorn is a relative of hawthorn but flowers earlier, before it produces foliage. Blackthorn is a common hedgerow tree of chalk and limestone areas, where it seems to thrive better and produce more fruit than on acid or clay soils. But a blackthorn winter may shrivel the flowers in bud or deter bees from pollinating the flowers, ...",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A period of cold weather in spring or early summer (March, April or May)."
      ],
      "id": "en-blackthorn_winter-en-noun-6Dzoy~2h",
      "qualifier": "especially rustic UK",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(especially rustic UK) A period of cold weather in spring or early summer (March, April or May)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "blackberry winter"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "blackthorn winter"
}
{
  "coordinate_terms": [
    {
      "word": "blackberry winter"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "So-called because it (typically) falls when blackthorn is flowering.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "blackthorn winters",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "blackthorn winter (plural blackthorn winters)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "British English",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "English rustic terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Temperature",
        "en:Winter"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1885, Great Britain. Meteorological Office, British Rainfall, page 98:",
          "text": "Blackthorn winters were most severe; (I.) a week at the end of March; (II.) April 13th to 26th. Two perennial springs, in different ranges of hills, failed.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1888 May 19, The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art, section Blackthorn Winter, page 590",
          "text": "An inveterate custom of English conversation, combined with the engaging versatility of the English climate, from which the custom derives both its origin and its vigour, must be our excuse for devoting some specific attention to this branch of the English weather. … In similar fashion we made observe, mutatis mutandis, of the blackthorn winter that, though small, it is peculiarly bitter. … Providence does not invariably temper the wind of the blackthorn winter for him. On the contrary, he too often finds that a balmy north-easter will effectually temper the rise of the May-fly, …"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1957, John Collier, His Monkey Wife: or Married to a Chimp, →ISBN, page 62:",
          "text": "[...] when, sick for home, she stood in tears amid the alien corn, the chimp's sad heart was charmed by no nightingale, for the bird had not yet returned to Stotfield, and what corn was showing was but a scanty acid green, ragged among the flints of those chilly fields. It was the blackthorn winter, and Emily, who had been sent out to gather primroses, found the thin stuff dress she now wore, designed by Amy to resemble the drabbest of charity child's garments, to be but a miserable covering ...",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Brian Lee, Fields and Hedgerows:",
          "text": "A similar term was 'blackthorn winter', which perhaps referred to the frequent cold snaps that occur when the sloes, or blackthorns, flower in late March or April. Blackthorn is a relative of hawthorn but flowers earlier, before it produces foliage. Blackthorn is a common hedgerow tree of chalk and limestone areas, where it seems to thrive better and produce more fruit than on acid or clay soils. But a blackthorn winter may shrivel the flowers in bud or deter bees from pollinating the flowers, ...",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A period of cold weather in spring or early summer (March, April or May)."
      ],
      "qualifier": "especially rustic UK",
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(especially rustic UK) A period of cold weather in spring or early summer (March, April or May)."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "blackberry winter"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "blackthorn winter"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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