bramble bush

• 指多刺的、杂乱生长的灌木丛，通常指黑莓或类似带刺植物的灌丛。也比喻复杂、棘手或难以处理的局面。

A tangled, thorny shrub or thicket, often referring to blackberry bushes or similar prickly plants. The phrase is also used metaphorically to describe a difficult, complicated, or prickly situation.

1. Prickly shrubB1formal

   A wild shrub with thorny stems, typically producing blackberries or similar fruits.

   荆棘丛

   • The children got scratched while picking berries from the bramble bush.
   • A bramble bush grew wild along the fence line.
   • He carefully avoided the bramble bush while walking through the field.

2. Difficult situation (figurative)B2informal

   A complex or problematic situation that is hard to navigate, often used in the phrase 'to beat around the bramble bush' (a variant of 'beat around the bush').

   复杂棘手的处境

   • Stop beating around the bramble bush and tell me what happened.
   • The negotiations became a bramble bush of conflicting demands.
   • He found himself caught in a bramble bush of legal issues.