prickles

"It is a pleasant way of running into danger," said Mr. Thorn, who was leisurely pruning the prickles from the stem of a rose.

Queechy 1854

Hence then it is that love, in order to resist assaults, hardens the substance of its form, and sets them erect, as it were in crests, like so many sharp prickles, that is, crisps itself; such is the provoking of love which is called zeal: wherefore if there is no opportunity of resistance, there arise anxiety and grief, because it foresees the extinction of interior life with its delights.

The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love Emanuel Swedenborg 1730

He knew how fresh the snake appears after it has cast its skin; how the hedgehog makes himself up into a ball and leaves his "prickles" in whatever touches him; how the butterfly comes from the grub; how the fox carries the goose; where the squirrel hides his store; where the martlet builds its nest, etc.

The Writings of John Burroughs — Volume 05: Pepacton John Burroughs 1879

It's also a book that has "prickles" (flaws or virtues, depending) in its conception and execution.

The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed André Alexis 2009

I stared at her legs in algebra class and waited to see the slow rise of prickles on her skin that the cold weather brought, but her legs remained smooth like glass.

The Adults Alison Espach 2011

Crawling through the yellow buds and dark prickles of gorse, their coconut smell sweet in the air, I snuck ever closer till at last I saw.

The premature ending of Annie MacLeod Gill Hoffs 2011

She could hardly feel her legs now, and sharp prickles circled her waist.

Crimson Wind Diana Pharaoh Francis 2011

Then I began getting little prickles that suggested something might remain to be said about all the women whose lives rotate around military men.

A Conversation with Sarah Bird, author of the novel The Flamenco Academy 2010

I stared at her legs in algebra class and waited to see the slow rise of prickles on her skin that the cold weather brought, but her legs remained smooth like glass.

The Adults Alison Espach 2011

And the story focuses on a Jewish family of startling unloveliness, all spikes and prickles and subterfuge with a helping of despotism and madness on the side.

Don’t Go Down To The Woods « Tales from the Reading Room 2009