"thorn in someone's side" meaning in English

See thorn in someone's side in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: En-au-thorn in someone's side.ogg Forms: thorns in someone's side [plural]
Head templates: {{en-noun|thorns in someone's side|head=thorn in someone's side}} thorn in someone's side (plural thorns in someone's side)
  1. (idiomatic) A persistent annoyance. Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: thorn in the flesh Related terms: bone in the throat, chip on one's shoulder Translations (thorn in someone's side): trn v oku (Czech), een doorn in oog (iemands) (Dutch), luis in de pels [feminine] (Dutch), piikki lihassa (Finnish), épine au pied [feminine] (French), épine dans le pied [feminine] (French), (jemandem) ein Dorn im Auge [masculine] (German), szálka a szemében (Hungarian), þyrnir í augum [masculine] (Icelandic), duri dalam daging (Indonesian), bior sa bheo [masculine] (Irish), tairne sa bheo [masculine] (Irish), spina nel fianco [feminine] (Italian), być solą w oku (english: to be salt in someone's eye) [imperfective, literally] (Polish), pedra no sapato (de alguém) [feminine] (Portuguese), sula în coaste (english: cu) (Romanian), бельмо́ на глазу́ (belʹmó na glazú) [neuter] (Russian), кость в го́рле (kostʹ v górle) [feminine] (Russian), piedra en el zapato [feminine] (Spanish), en nagel i ögat (på någon) (Swedish), หนามยอกอก (nǎam-yɔ̂ɔk-òk) (Thai), cái gai trong mắt (Vietnamese)

Inflected forms

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      "form": "thorns in someone's side",
      "tags": [
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
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          "ref": "1995, “The Sword of Kahless”, in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, season 4, episode 8 (Science Fiction), spoken by Kor, →OCLC:",
          "text": "Wait. Let this moment be remembered. For on this day, we three -- Kor, Dahar Master of the Klingons, Jadzia Dax, a joined Trill of seven lives, and Worf, son of Mogh and thorn in Gowron's side -- together stepped forth into the eye of destiny.",
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          "ref": "2014 March 9, Jacob Steinberg, “Wigan shock Manchester City in FA Cup again to reach semi-finals”, in The Guardian:",
          "text": "All the billions in the world and Manchester City still cannot rid themselves of the most persistent thorn in their side.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2023 July 22, Andrew Anthony, “The pro-extinctionist philosopher who has sparked a battle over humanity’s future”, in The Observer, →ISSN:",
          "text": "Up until now, Torres has been best known through their trenchant pieces for magazines such as Salon, aeon and Foreign Policy as a thorn in the side of the longtermist movement.",
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      "glosses": [
        "A persistent annoyance."
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      "id": "en-thorn_in_someone's_side-en-noun-vC5Ajtqq",
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        "(idiomatic) A persistent annoyance."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "bone in the throat"
        },
        {
          "word": "chip on one's shoulder"
        }
      ],
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        {
          "word": "thorn in the flesh"
        }
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      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "cs",
          "lang": "Czech",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "trn v oku"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "een doorn in oog (iemands)"
        },
        {
          "code": "nl",
          "lang": "Dutch",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "luis in de pels"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "piikki lihassa"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "épine au pied"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "épine dans le pied"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "(jemandem) ein Dorn im Auge"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "szálka a szemében"
        },
        {
          "code": "is",
          "lang": "Icelandic",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "þyrnir í augum"
        },
        {
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "duri dalam daging"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "bior sa bheo"
        },
        {
          "code": "ga",
          "lang": "Irish",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "tairne sa bheo"
        },
        {
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "spina nel fianco"
        },
        {
          "code": "pl",
          "english": "to be salt in someone's eye",
          "lang": "Polish",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "imperfective",
            "literally"
          ],
          "word": "być solą w oku"
        },
        {
          "code": "pt",
          "lang": "Portuguese",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "pedra no sapato (de alguém)"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "english": "cu",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "sula în coaste"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "belʹmó na glazú",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "бельмо́ на глазу́"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "kostʹ v górle",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "кость в го́рле"
        },
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          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "piedra en el zapato"
        },
        {
          "code": "sw",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "en nagel i ögat (på någon)"
        },
        {
          "code": "th",
          "lang": "Thai",
          "roman": "nǎam-yɔ̂ɔk-òk",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "หนามยอกอก"
        },
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          "code": "vi",
          "lang": "Vietnamese",
          "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
          "word": "cái gai trong mắt"
        }
      ]
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  "word": "thorn in someone's side"
}
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  "lang_code": "en",
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      "word": "bone in the throat"
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      "word": "chip on one's shoulder"
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          "ref": "2023 July 22, Andrew Anthony, “The pro-extinctionist philosopher who has sparked a battle over humanity’s future”, in The Observer, →ISSN:",
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        "A persistent annoyance."
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        "(idiomatic) A persistent annoyance."
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      "word": "thorn in the flesh"
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    {
      "code": "cs",
      "lang": "Czech",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "trn v oku"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "een doorn in oog (iemands)"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "luis in de pels"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "piikki lihassa"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "épine au pied"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "épine dans le pied"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "(jemandem) ein Dorn im Auge"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "szálka a szemében"
    },
    {
      "code": "is",
      "lang": "Icelandic",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "þyrnir í augum"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "duri dalam daging"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "bior sa bheo"
    },
    {
      "code": "ga",
      "lang": "Irish",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "tairne sa bheo"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "spina nel fianco"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "english": "to be salt in someone's eye",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "imperfective",
        "literally"
      ],
      "word": "być solą w oku"
    },
    {
      "code": "pt",
      "lang": "Portuguese",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "pedra no sapato (de alguém)"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "english": "cu",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "sula în coaste"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "belʹmó na glazú",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "бельмо́ на глазу́"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "kostʹ v górle",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "кость в го́рле"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "piedra en el zapato"
    },
    {
      "code": "sw",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "en nagel i ögat (på någon)"
    },
    {
      "code": "th",
      "lang": "Thai",
      "roman": "nǎam-yɔ̂ɔk-òk",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "หนามยอกอก"
    },
    {
      "code": "vi",
      "lang": "Vietnamese",
      "sense": "thorn in someone's side",
      "word": "cái gai trong mắt"
    }
  ],
  "word": "thorn in someone's side"
}

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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 2024-12-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (d8cb2f3 and 4e554ae). 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.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.