Spinney
Origin
From Middle English spenné, from Middle French espinoye ("thorney thicket"), espinaye, from Latin spīnētum ("thorney thicket"), from Latin spīna ("thorn").
Alternative forms
Full definition of spinney
Noun
spinney
(plural spinneys)- (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€
- 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.