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# spiny

«spiny» in Mova's school dictionary: **covered with spines — sharp, stiff points like thorns or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

adjective (spiny, spinier, spiniest)

### meaning for a pupil

Spiny means covered with spines — sharp, stiff points like thorns or prickles. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#m1)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons on adaptations, spiny animals (hedgehogs, porcupines, echidnas, sea urchins, spiny lobsters) and spiny plants (cactuses, holly) use spines for protection from predators. The spiny anteater is another name for the echidna of Australia and New Guinea. Safety: do not touch spiny sea creatures on the beach.

### examples

- A hedgehog has a spiny back. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x1)
- The echidna, or spiny anteater, lives in Australia. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x2)
- Cactuses have spiny stems to stop animals eating them. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x3)
- Don't step on that spiny sea urchin. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x4)
- The spiny fish puffed itself up. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x5)
- Holly leaves are spiny at the edges. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x6)
- Spiny lobsters have no big claws, just spiky shells. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/#x7)

### note

Spine (sharp point) + -y = spiny (drop the e). Comparative: spinier. Do not confuse with "spine" meaning backbone; spiny means prickly, not having a backbone.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «spiny» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/spiny/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.