What does espina in Spanish mean?

What is the meaning of the word espina in Spanish? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use espina in Spanish.

The word espina in Spanish means thorn, bone, sadness, make uneasy, have a bad feeling about, spina bifida, backbone, thorn in the flesh, save your bacon, remove a thorn, get off your chest, feel gutted about , feel bad about, be longing to do, have a good feeling about, have a lump in your throat, have a deep hurt, gooseberry. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word espina

thorn

nombre femenino (pincho de una planta)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Una de las espinas de la rosa le pinchó el dedo.
One of the rose's thorns pricked his finger.

bone

nombre femenino (huesecillos de pez) (fish)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
No le gustaba el pescado porque tenía espinas.
He didn't like fish because it had bones.

sadness

nombre femenino (figurado (pesar íntimo) (feeling)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Siempre tuvo clavada la espina de no haber aprendido inglés.
He never got over the sadness of not having learned English.

make uneasy

locución verbal (coloquial (generar desconfianza)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Tu confías en él, pero a mí me da mala espina; no me parece una persona clara.
You trust him, but he makes me uneasy. He doesn't strike me as a clear person.

have a bad feeling about

locución verbal (coloquial (sospechar de algo)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
No pienso invertir porque me da mala espina ese negocio.
I don't think I'll invest in that because I have a bad feeling about that business.

spina bifida

nombre femenino (malformación) (medical)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
La espina bífida es un defecto del sistema nervioso.
Spina bifida is a defect of the nervous system.

backbone

locución nominal femenina (columna vertebral) (informal)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Un defecto en la espina dorsal le impedía caminar con normalidad.
A defect in his backbone prevented him from walking normally.

thorn in the flesh

locución nominal femenina (cita bíblica: dolencia) (figurative: bible)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

save your bacon

locución verbal (coloquial (derrota: desquitarse) (figurative)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
El portero se sacó la espina parando cinco goles.

remove a thorn

locución verbal (retirar una astilla) (fish, plant)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Para sacarte una espina enterrada usa unas pinzas.

get off your chest

locución verbal (coloquial (decir algo: sincerarse) (figurative)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Se sacó una espina con su amigo y le reveló su secreto.

feel gutted about , feel bad about

locución verbal (coloquial (sentirse frustrado)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Tiene la espina clavada de haber fallado el gol en el partido.
She feels gutted about (or: feels bad about) missing the goal in the match.

be longing to do

locución verbal (coloquial (desear algo)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Tengo la espina clavada de conocer Europa algún día.
I'm longing to visit Europe one day.

have a good feeling about

locución verbal (coloquial (buen presentimiento)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Creo que me darán el trabajo, tengo una buena espina.

have a lump in your throat

locución verbal (coloquial (mudez por un pesar)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
No pudo decir adiós porque tenía una espina clavada en la garganta.
He couldn't say goodbye because he had a lump in his throat.

have a deep hurt

locución verbal (coloquial (dolor emocional)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Los exiliados tienen una espina en el corazón.
Exiles have been deeply wounded.

gooseberry

nombre femenino (botánica: agrazón) (fruit)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
La uva espina es ácida y sus espinas dificultan su cosecha.

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So now that you know more about the meaning of espina in Spanish, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Spanish.

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Spanish (español), also known as Castilla, is a language of the Iberian-Romance group of the Romance languages, and the 4th most common language in the world according to Some sources, while others list it as a 2nd or 3rd most common language. It is the mother tongue of about 352 million people, and is spoken by 417 million people when adding its speakers as a language. sub (estimated in 1999). Spanish and Portuguese have very similar grammar and vocabulary; The number of similar vocabulary of these two languages is up to 89%. Spanish is the primary language of 20 countries around the world. It is estimated that the total number of speakers of Spanish is between 470 and 500 million, making it the second most widely spoken language in the world by number of native speakers.