thornback

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English thornbak; equivalent to thorn +‎ back. === Noun === thornback (plural thornbacks) 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. The thornback ray or thornback skate (Raja clavata), a species of ray in the Atlantic Ocean. The thornback skate (Dentiraja lemprieri), a fish endemic to Australia. (archaic) A woman over a certain age (variously 26 or 30) who has never married, older than a spinster. 1710, Isaac Bickerstaff (pseudonym), A Good husband for five shillings, or Esquire Bickerstaff's Lottery, quoted in 2016, Amy M. Froide, Silent Partners: Women As Public Investors During Britain's Financial Revolution, 1690-1750, Oxford University Press (→ISBN), page 46: [A] society of honest gentlemen [is holding a lottery] for the benefit of all single ladies, widows, maids, or thornbacks […] === References === thornback on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Platyrhinoidis triseriata on Wikispecies.Wikispecies Raja clavata on Wikispecies.Wikispecies Rajidae on Wikispecies.Wikispecies