1 full of spines; prickly.
2 perplexing, troublesome, thorny.
Phrases and idioms:
spiny anteater = ECHIDNA. spiny lobster any of various large edible crustaceans of the family Palinuridae, esp. Palinuris vulgaris, with a spiny shell and no large anterior claws.
Derivatives:
spininess n.
Useful english dictionary. 2012.