Meaning & use
thicket
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Meanings
nouncountable
A dense group of bushes, small trees, or other plants growing closely together.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a thicket' or 'thickets'.
Patterns
- a thicket of something
- in a thicket
- into the thicket
The rabbit disappeared into a thicket of blackberry bushes.
We had to push through a thicket to reach the river.
A thicket of bamboo grew behind the house.
nouncountablefigurative
A large number of things that are closely packed together and hard to move through or understand.
Grammar: Often used figuratively with 'of': a thicket of rules, a thicket of details.
Patterns
- a thicket of something
- a thicket of red tape
The contract was a thicket of legal terms.
We got lost in a thicket of regulations.
She had to navigate a thicket of conflicting advice.
Word forms
| plural | thickets |
|---|
Common combinations
- dense thicket
- The bird hid in a dense thicket.
- thorny thicket
- They cut a path through the thorny thicket.
- a thicket of bushes
- A thicket of bushes blocked the entrance.
- a thicket of rules
- Small businesses struggle with a thicket of rules.
- into the thicket
- The fox ran into the thicket.
Synonyms and how they differ
- bush
- A single woody plant; a thicket is a group of such plants growing densely together.
- copse
- A small group of trees; a thicket is usually denser and made of bushes or small trees.
- undergrowth
- Plants growing under larger trees; a thicket can be any dense cluster, not only under trees.
- tangle
- Used figuratively for a confusing mass; 'thicket' suggests something you must physically push through.
Word family
- thick adjective
- Dense or closely packed.
- thicken verb
- To become or make thick.
Commonly confused: thicket or thick? thicket or ticket?
thicket vs thick
An adjective meaning wide or dense; 'thicket' is a noun for a dense group of plants.
thicket vs ticket
A piece of paper allowing entry or travel; 'thicket' sounds similar but means a dense group of bushes.
Practice
Choose the best word: 'The deer vanished into a ___ of trees.'
Choose one answer.
'Thicket' is the noun meaning a dense group of trees or bushes. 'Thick' is an adjective, 'thicken' is a verb, and 'thickness' is a noun for the measurement, not for a group of plants.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thicket”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.