Adjacent Words

Prick definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRICK, v.t.
1. To pierce with a sharp pointed instrument or substance; as, to prick one with a pin, a needle, a thorn or the like.
2. To erect a pointed thing, or with an acuminated point; applied chiefly to the ears, and primarily to the pointed ears of an animal. The horse pricks his ears, or pricks up his ears.
3. To fix by the point; as, to prick a knife into a board.
4. To hang on a point.
The cooks prick a slice on a prong of iron.
5. To designate by a puncture or mark.
Some who are pricked for sheriffs, and are fit, set out of the bill.
6. To spur; to goad; to incite; sometimes with on or off.
My duty pricks me on to utter that
Which no worldly good should draw from me.
But how if honor prick me off.
7. To affect with sharp pain; to sting with remorse.
When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts. Acts 2. Psalms 73.
8. To make acid or pungent to the taste; as, wine is pricked.
9. To write a musical composition with the proper notes on a scale.
10. In seamen's language, to run a middle seam through the cloth of a sail.
To prick a chart, is to trace a ship's course on a chart.
PRICK, v.i. To become acid; as, cider pricks in the rays of the sun.
1. To dress one's self for show.
2. To come upon the spur; to shoot along.
Before each van
Prick forth the airy knights.
3. To aim at a point, mark or place.
PRICK, n.
1. A slender pointed instrument or substance, which is hard enough to pierce the skin; a goad; a spur.
It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts 9.
2. Sharp stinging pain; remorse.
3. A spot or mark at which archers aim.
4. A point; a fixed place.
5. A puncture or place entered by a point.
6. The print of a hare on the ground.
7. In seamen's language, a small roll; as a prick of spun yarn; a prick of tobacco.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: insulting terms of address for people who are stupid or irritating or ridiculous [syn: asshole, bastard, cocksucker, dickhead, shit, mother fucker, motherfucker, prick, whoreson, son of a bitch, SOB]
2: a depression scratched or carved into a surface [syn: incision, scratch, prick, slit, dent]
3: obscene terms for penis [syn: cock, prick, dick, shaft, pecker, peter, tool, putz]
4: the act of puncturing with a small point; "he gave the balloon a small prick" [syn: prick, pricking] v
1: make a small hole into, as with a needle or a thorn; "The nurse pricked my finger to get a small blood sample" [syn: prickle, prick]
2: cause a stinging pain; "The needle pricked his skin" [syn: prick, sting, twinge]
3: raise; "The dog pricked up his ears" [syn: prick up, prick, cock up]
4: stab or urge on as if with a pointed stick [syn: goad, prick]
5: cause a prickling sensation [syn: prickle, prick]
6: to cause a sharp emotional pain; "The thought of her unhappiness pricked his conscience"
7: deliver a sting to; "A bee stung my arm yesterday" [syn: sting, bite, prick]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English prikke, from Old English prica; akin to Middle Dutch pric prick Date: before 12th century 1. a mark or shallow hole made by a pointed instrument 2. a. a pointed instrument or weapon b. a sharp projecting organ or part 3. an instance of pricking or the sensation of being pricked: as a. a nagging or sharp feeling of remorse, regret, or sorrow b. a slight sharply localized discomfort <the prick of a needle> 4. usually vulgar penis 5. usually vulgar a spiteful or contemptible man often having some authority II. verb Date: before 12th century transitive verb 1. to pierce slightly with a sharp point 2. to affect with anguish, grief, or remorse <doubt began to prick him — Philip Hale> 3. to ride, guide, or urge on with or as if with spurs ; goad 4. to mark, distinguish, or note by means of a small mark 5. to trace or outline with punctures 6. to remove (a young seedling) from the seedbed to another suitable for further growth — usually used with out 7. to cause to be or stand erect <a dog pricking its ears> intransitive verb 1. a. to prick something or cause a pricking sensation b. to feel discomfort as if from being pricked 2. a. to urge a horse with the spur b. to ride fast 3. thrust 4. to become directed upward ; point

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 tr. pierce slightly; make a small hole in. 2 tr. (foll. by off, out) mark (esp. a pattern) with small holes or dots. 3 tr. trouble mentally (my conscience is pricking me). 4 intr. feel a pricking sensation. 5 intr. (foll. by at, into, etc.) make a thrust as if to prick. 6 tr. (foll. by in, off, out) plant (seedlings etc.) in small holes pricked in the earth. 7 tr. Brit. archaic mark off (a name in a list, esp. to select a sheriff) by pricking. 8 tr. archaic spur or urge on (a horse etc.). --n. 1 the act or an instance of pricking. 2 a small hole or mark made by pricking. 3 a pain caused as by pricking. 4 a mental pain (felt the pricks of conscience). 5 coarse sl. a the penis. b derog. (as a term of contempt) a person. Usage: Usually considered a taboo use. 6 archaic a goad for oxen. Phrases and idioms: kick against the pricks persist in futile resistance. prick up one's ears 1 (of a dog etc.) make the ears erect when on the alert. 2 (of a person) become suddenly attentive. Derivatives: pricker n. Etymology: OE prician (v.), pricca (n.)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prick Prick, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Pricked; p. pr. & vb. n. Pricking.] [AS. prician; akin to LG. pricken, D. prikken, Dan. prikke, Sw. pricka. See Prick, n., and cf. Prink, Prig.] 1. To pierce slightly with a sharp-pointed instrument or substance; to make a puncture in, or to make by puncturing; to drive a fine point into; as, to prick one with a pin, needle, etc.; to prick a card; to prick holes in paper. 2. To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing; as, to prick a knife into a board. --Sir I. Newton. The cooks prick it [a slice] on a prong of iron. --Sandys. 3. To mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark; -- sometimes with off. Some who are pricked for sheriffs. --Bacon. Let the soldiers for duty be carefully pricked off. --Sir W. Scott. Those many, then, shall die: their names are pricked. --Shak. 4. To mark the outline of by puncturing; to trace or form by pricking; to mark by punctured dots; as, to prick a pattern for embroidery; to prick the notes of a musical composition. --Cowper. 5. To ride or guide with spurs; to spur; to goad; to incite; to urge on; -- sometimes with on, or off. Who pricketh his blind horse over the fallows. --Chaucer. The season pricketh every gentle heart. --Chaucer. My duty pricks me on to utter that. --Shak. 6. To affect with sharp pain; to sting, as with remorse. ``I was pricked with some reproof.'' --Tennyson. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. --Acts ii. 37. 7. To make sharp; to erect into a point; to raise, as something pointed; -- said especially of the ears of an animal, as a horse or dog; and usually followed by up; -- hence, to prick up the ears, to listen sharply; to have the attention and interest strongly engaged. ``The courser . . . pricks up his ears.'' --Dryden. 8. To render acid or pungent. [Obs.] --Hudibras. 9. To dress; to prink; -- usually with up. [Obs.] 10. (Naut) (a) To run a middle seam through, as the cloth of a sail. (b) To trace on a chart, as a ship's course. 11. (Far.) (a) To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness. (b) To nick.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prick Prick, n. [AS. prica, pricca, pricu; akin to LG. prick, pricke, D. prik, Dan. prik, prikke, Sw. prick. Cf. Prick, v.] 1. That which pricks, penetrates, or punctures; a sharp and slender thing; a pointed instrument; a goad; a spur, etc.; a point; a skewer. Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary. --Shak. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. --Acts ix. 5. 2. The act of pricking, or the sensation of being pricked; a sharp, stinging pain; figuratively, remorse. ``The pricks of conscience.'' --A. Tucker. 3. A mark made by a pointed instrument; a puncture; a point. Hence: (a) A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour. [Obs.] ``The prick of noon.'' --Shak. (b) The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin. ``They that shooten nearest the prick.'' --Spenser. (c) A mark denoting degree; degree; pitch. [Obs.] ``To prick of highest praise forth to advance.'' --Spenser. (d) A mathematical point; -- regularly used in old English translations of Euclid. (e) The footprint of a hare. [Obs.] 4. (Naut.) A small roll; as, a prick of spun yarn; a prick of tobacco.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prick Prick, v. i. 1. To be punctured; to suffer or feel a sharp pain, as by puncture; as, a sore finger pricks. 2. To spur onward; to ride on horseback. --Milton. A gentle knight was pricking on the plain. --Spenser. 3. To become sharp or acid; to turn sour, as wine. 4. To aim at a point or mark. --Hawkins.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pricks, pricking, pricked) 1. If you prick something or prick holes in it, you make small holes in it with a sharp object such as a pin. Prick the potatoes and rub the skins with salt... He pricks holes in the foil with a pin. VERB: V n, V n prep 2. If something sharp pricks you or if you prick yourself with something sharp, it sticks into you or presses your skin and causes you pain. She had just pricked her finger with the needle. VERB: V n 3. If something pricks your conscience, you suddenly feel guilty about it. If you are pricked by an emotion, you suddenly experience that emotion. Most were sympathetic once we pricked their consciences... VERB: V n 4. A prick is a small, sharp pain that you get when something pricks you. At the same time she felt a prick on her neck. N-COUNT 5. A man's prick is his penis. (INFORMAL, VERY RUDE) N-COUNT: poss N

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

prik: As a noun (= any slender pointed thing, a thorn, a sting) it translates two words:

(1) sekh, a "thorn" or "prickle." Only in Nu 33:55, "those that ye let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes," i.e. "shall be a source of painful trouble to you."

(2) kentron "an iron goad" for urging on oxen and other beasts of burden: "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks" (the King James Version of Ac 9:5, where the Revised Version (British and American) omits the whole phrase, following the best manuscripts, including Codices Sinaiticus, A, B, C, E; the King James Version of Ac 26:14, where the Revised Version (British and American) has "goad," margin "Greek: `goads' "), i.e. to offer vain and perilous resistance. See GOAD. As a verb (= "to pierce with something sharply pointed," "to sting"), it occurs once in its literal sense: "a pricking brier" (Eze 28:24); and twice in a figurative sense: "I was pricked in my heart" (Ps 73:21); "They were pricked in their heart" (Ac 2:37, katanusso, Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) compungo; compare English word "compunction").

D. Miall Edwards

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Pierce (with a small hole), perforate, puncture. 2. Spur, goad, incite, impel, urge, drive. 3. Sting, wound, pain, hurt, cut. 4. Make acid, acidify. 5. Erect. II. v. n. Spur, ride, gallop, hasten, post. III. n. 1. Goad, point. 2. Puncture, perforation, mark (made by a point), point. 3. Sharp, stinging pain; remorse, tormenting thought, thorn in the mind. 4. Puncture, wound, sting.

Moby Thesaurus

aculeus, acuminate, acumination, acute pain, afflict, aggrieve, agonize, ail, anguish, auger, barb the dart, be keen, birthmark, bit, bite, blaze, blaze a trail, blemish, blotch, bore, borer, boring pain, brand, bristle with, broach, bruise, bugger, burn, cage, caste mark, chafe, chalk, chalk up, charley horse, check, check off, checkmark, cicatrix, cicatrize, convulse, corral, countersink, cramp, cramps, crick, crucify, cusp, cut, cut up, dapple, darting pain, dash, define, delimit, demarcate, discolor, discoloration, distress, dot, drill, drive, drove, earmark, egg on, empierce, engrave, engraving, enter, excite, excruciate, exhort, fester, fix, fleck, flick, flog, freckle, fret, fulgurant pain, gad, gadfly, gall, gash, girdle pain, give pain, gnaw, gnawing, goad, gore, gouge, gouge out, grate, graving, grieve, grind, gripe, griping, hack, harrow, hatch, have an edge, herd, hitch, hole, honeycomb, hurt, hurt the feelings, impale, impress, imprint, inflame, inflict pain, irritate, itch, jab, jag, jot, jumping pain, kill by inches, kink, lacerate, lance, lancinating pain, lash, lentigo, line, macula, make a mark, mark, mark off, mark out, marking, martyr, martyrize, mole, mottle, mucro, neb, needle, nevus, nib, nick, nip, notch, nudge, oxgoad, pain, pang, paroxysm, patch, pencil, penetrate, pepper, perforate, perforation, pierce, pinch, pinhole, pink, pinprick, pique, point, poke, polka dot, prickle, print, prod, prolong the agony, prompt, propel, punch, punch cattle, punctuate, puncture, put to torture, rack, rankle, rasp, ream, ream out, riddle, ride herd on, round up, rowel, rub, run through, scar, scarification, scarify, score, scotch, scratch, scratching, scum, seal, seam, seizure, sharp pain, shepherd, shit, shithead, shoot, shooting, shooting pain, sic, skewer, skunk, slash, slit, smart, snake, spasm, spear, speck, speckle, spike, spit, splash, splotch, spot, spur, stab, stabbing pain, stain, stamp, stick, stigma, stigmatize, stimulate, sting, stinker, stitch, strawberry mark, streak, striate, stripe, tap, tattoo, tattoo mark, thrill, throes, tick, tick off, tingle, tip, tittle, toad, tormen, torment, torture, trace, transfix, transpierce, trepan, trephine, turd, tweak, twinge, twist, twist the knife, twitch, underline, underscore, watermark, whip, whiplash, wound, wrangle, wrench, wring