- any of various thorny trees or shrubs of the N temperate rosaceous genus Crataegus, esp C. oxyacantha, having white or pink flowers and reddish fruits (haws)Also called (in Britain): may, may tree, mayflower
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
haw•thorn /ˈhɔˌθɔrn/USA pronunciation
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Plant Biologya small tree of the rose family, with stiff thorns, white or red flowers, and bright-colored fruit.
haw•thorn
(hô′thôrn′),USA pronunciation n.
haw′thorn′y, adj.
- Plant Biologyany of numerous plants belonging to the genus Crataegus, of the rose family, typically a small tree with stiff thorns, certain North American species of which have white or pink blossoms and bright-colored fruits and are cultivated in hedges.
- bef. 900; Middle English; Old English haguthorn, cognate with Middle Dutch hagedorn, Middle High German hagendorn, Old Norse hagthorn. See haw3, thorn
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
hawthorn /ˈhɔːˌθɔːn/ n
'hawthorn' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
haw
- may
- mayflower
- quickset
- quickthorn
- thorn
- thorn apple
- whitethorn
- acerola
- Cape pondweed
- cockspur
- Indian hawthorn
- may tree
- quick
- rose family
- water hawthorn
- yeddo hawthorn