Spinney

Origin

From Middle English spenné, from Middle French espinoye ("thorney thicket"), espinaye, from Latin spīnētum ("thorney thicket"), from Latin spīna ("thorn").

Alternative forms

• spinny

Full definition of spinney

Noun

1. (UK) A small copse or wood, especially one planted as a shelter for game birds.
• 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 2, “H'm !” he said, “so, so—it is a tragedy in a prologue and three acts. I am going down this afternoon to see the curtain fall for the third time on what ... will prove a good burlesque ; but it all began dramatically enough. It was last Saturday … that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth. â€¦â€
• Wodehouse Offing|XII|I've never hunted myself, but I understand that half the battle is being able to make noises like some jungle animal with dyspepsia, and I believe that Aunt Dahlia in her prime could lift fellow-members of the Quorn and Pytchley out of their saddles with a single yip, though separated from them by two ploughed fields and a spinney.