1 thistles and thorns

2 brambles

3 thorny undergrowth

1 lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)

2 fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way

3 to break through hardships

4 to blaze a new trail

1 thorny (problem)

2 intractable

1 sea-buckthorn

1 thorns

1 lit. to cut one's way through thistles and thorns (idiom)

2 fig. to overcome all obstacles on the way

3 to break through hardships

4 to blaze a new trail

1 lit. a path covered in brambles

2 a course of action beset by difficulties (idiom)

1 to eat bitter fruit and lie on thorns (idiom); to share the hard life of the common people