Adjacent Words

Prize definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PRIZE, n.
1. That which is taken from an enemy in war; any species of goods or property seized by force as spoil or plunder; or that which is taken in combat, particularly a ship. A privateer takes an enemy's ship as a prize. They make prize of all the property of the enemy.
2. That which is taken from another; that which is deemed a valuable acquisition.
Then prostrate falls, and begs with ardent eyes,
Soon to obtain and long possess the prize.
3. That which is obtained or offered as the reward of contest.
--I will never wrestle for prize.
I fought and conquer'd, yet have lost the prize.
4. The reward gained by any performance.
5. In colloquial language, any valuable thing gained.
6. The money drawn by a lottery ticket; opposed to blank.
PRIZE, v.t. [L. pretium.]
1. To set or estimate the value of; to rate; as, to prize the goods specified in an invoice.
Life I prize not a straw.
2. To value highly; to estimate to be of great worth; to esteem.
I prize your person, but your crown disdain.
3. To raise with a lever. [See Pry.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of superior grade; "choice wines"; "prime beef"; "prize carnations"; "quality paper"; "select peaches" [syn: choice, prime, prize, quality, select] n
1: something given for victory or superiority in a contest or competition or for winning a lottery; "the prize was a free trip to Europe" [syn: prize, award]
2: goods or money obtained illegally [syn: loot, booty, pillage, plunder, prize, swag, dirty money]
3: something given as a token of victory [syn: trophy, prize] v
1: hold dear; "I prize these old photographs" [syn: prize, value, treasure, appreciate]
2: to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open; "The burglar jimmied the lock": "Raccoons managed to pry the lid off the garbage pail" [syn: pry, prise, prize, lever, jimmy]
3: regard highly; think much of; "I respect his judgement"; "We prize his creativity" [syn: respect, esteem, value, prize, prise] [ant: disesteem, disrespect]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English pris prize, price — more at price Date: 14th century 1. something offered or striven for in competition or in contests of chance; also premium 1d 2. something exceptionally desirable 3. archaic a contest for a reward ; competition II. adjective Date: 1803 1. a. awarded or worthy of a prize b. awarded as a prize c. entered for the sake of a prize <a prize drawing> 2. outstanding of a kind <raised prize hogs> III. transitive verb (prized; prizing) Etymology: Middle English prisen, from Anglo-French priser, preiser to appraise, esteem, from Late Latin pretiare, from Latin pretium price, value — more at price Date: 14th century 1. to estimate the value of ; rate 2. to value highly ; esteem <a prized possession> Synonyms: see appreciate IV. noun Etymology: Middle English prise, from Anglo-French, taking, seizure, from prendre to take, from Latin prehendere — more at get Date: 14th century 1. something taken by force, stratagem, or threat; especially property lawfully captured at sea in time of war 2. an act of capturing or taking; especially the wartime capture of a ship and its cargo at sea Synonyms: see spoil V. transitive verb (prized; prizing) Etymology: prize lever Date: 1686 to press, force, or move with a lever ; pry

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 something that can be won in a competition or lottery etc. 2 a reward given as a symbol of victory or superiority. 3 something striven for or worth striving for (missed all the great prizes of life). 4 (attrib.) a to which a prize is awarded (a prize bull; a prize poem). b supremely excellent or outstanding of its kind. --v.tr. value highly (a much prized possession). Phrases and idioms: prize-giving an award of prizes, esp. formally at a school etc. prize-money money offered as a prize. prize-ring 1 an enclosed area (now usu. a square) for prizefighting. 2 the practice of prizefighting. Etymology: (n.) ME, var. of PRICE: (v.) ME f. OF pris- stem of preisier PRAISE 2. n. & v. --n. 1 a ship or property captured in naval warfare. 2 a find or windfall. --v.tr. make a prize of. Phrases and idioms: prize-court a department of an admiralty court concerned with prizes. Etymology: ME f. OF prise taking, booty, fem. past part. of prendre f. L prehendere prehens- seize: later identified with PRIZE(1) 3. var. of PRISE.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prize Prize, v. t. To move with a lever; to force up or open; to pry. [Written also prise.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prize Prize, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prized; p. pr. & vb. n. Prizing.] [F. priser, OF. prisier, preisier, fr. L. pretiare, fr. pretium worth, value, price. See Price, and cf. Praise.] [Formerly written also prise. ] 1. To set or estimate the value of; to appraise; to price; to rate. A goodly price that I was prized at. --Zech. xi. 13. I prize it [life] not a straw, but for mine honor. --Shak. 2. To value highly; to estimate to be of great worth; to esteem. ``[I] do love, prize, honor you. '' --Shak. I prized your person, but your crown disdain. --Dryden.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prize Prize, n. [F. prise a seizing, hold, grasp, fr. pris, p. p. of prendre to take, L. prendere, prehendere; in some senses, as 2 (b), either from, or influenced by, F. prix price. See Prison, Prehensile, and cf. Pry, and also Price.] 1. That which is taken from another; something captured; a thing seized by force, stratagem, or superior power. I will depart my pris, or may prey, by deliberation. --Chaucer. His own prize, Whom formerly he had in battle won. --Spenser. 2. Hence, specifically; (a) (Law) Anything captured by a belligerent using the rights of war; esp., property captured at sea in virtue of the rights of war, as a vessel. --Kent. --Brande & C. (b) An honor or reward striven for in a competitive contest; anything offered to be competed for, or as an inducement to, or reward of, effort. I'll never wrestle for prize more. --Shak. I fought and conquered, yet have lost the prize. --Dryden. (c) That which may be won by chance, as in a lottery. 3. Anything worth striving for; a valuable possession held or in prospect. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. --Phil. iii. 14. 4. A contest for a reward; competition. [Obs.] --Shak. 5. A lever; a pry; also, the hold of a lever. [Written also prise.] Prize court, a court having jurisdiction of all captures made in war on the high seas. --Bouvier. Prize fight, an exhibition contest, esp. one of pugilists, for a stake or wager. Prize fighter, one who fights publicly for a reward; -- applied esp. to a professional boxer or pugilist. --Pope. Prize fighting, fighting, especially boxing, in public for a reward or wager. Prize master, an officer put in charge or command of a captured vessel. Prize medal, a medal given as a prize. Prize money, a dividend from the proceeds of a captured vessel, etc., paid to the captors. Prize ring, the ring or inclosure for a prize fight; the system and practice of prize fighting. To make prize of, to capture. --Hawthorne.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Prize Prize, n. [F. prix price. See 3d Prize. ] Estimation; valuation. [Obs.] --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(prizes, prizing, prized) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. Note: The spelling 'prise' is also used in British English for meanings 5 and 6. 1. A prize is money or something valuable that is given to someone who has the best results in a competition or game, or as a reward for doing good work. You must claim your prize by telephoning our claims line... He won first prize at the Leeds Piano Competition... They were going all out for the prize-money, £6,500 for the winning team. N-COUNT 2. You use prize to describe things that are of such good quality that they win prizes or deserve to win prizes. ...a prize bull. ...prize blooms. ADJ: ADJ n 3. You can refer to someone or something as a prize when people consider them to be of great value or importance. With no lands of his own, he was no great matrimonial prize. N-COUNT 4. Something that is prized is wanted and admired because it is considered to be very valuable or very good quality. Military figures, made out of lead are prized by collectors... One of the gallery's most prized possessions is the portrait of Ginevra da Vinci. VERB: usu passive, be V-ed, V-ed 5. If you prize something open or prize it away from a surface, you force it to open or force it to come away from the surface. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use pry) He tried to prize the dog's mouth open... I prised off the metal rim surrounding one of the dials... He held on tight but she prised it from his fingers. VERB: V n with adj, V n with adv, V n out of/from n 6. If you prize something such as information out of someone, you persuade them to tell you although they may be very unwilling to. (mainly BRIT; in AM, usually use pry) Alison and I had to prize conversation out of him. VERB: V n out of n, also V n with out

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

priz: Two Greek words are so rendered in English Versions of the Bible:

(1) brabeion, the award to the victor in the Greek games, consisting of a garland of bay, olive, or pine; so called because it was given by the brabeus, the adjudicator who assigned the prize at the games (Vulgate bravium, from which may be derived the English "brave" = originally gaily dressed, handsome). Used literally in 1Co 9:24, and figuratively of the heavenly reward for Christian character in Php 3:14.

(2) harpagmos, in the English Revised Version of Php 2:6, "counted it not a prize to be on an equality with God." The termination -uos, -mos, would lead us to expect the active sense: "an act of grasping," "plundering" (the King James Version "robbery"), which would imply that Christ did not deem it an act of usurpation to claim equality with God, for such equality was His inherent right. But the context demands a reference "not to the right which He claimed, but to the dignity which He renounced" (Lightfoot); hence, the majority of modern expositors take the word in a passive sense (= harpagma): "a thing to be seized, prized, retained at all costs as a booty" (the English Revised Version "a prize," the American Standard Revised Version "a thing to be grasped"), implying that Christ did not regard equality with God as a thing to be clutched greedily, but waived His rights (see Lightfoot on Php 2:6). The verb "to prize" occurs only in Zec 11:13.

See GRASP; HUMILIATION OF CHRIST; KENOSIS.

D. Miall Edwards

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Reward, premium, guerdon, meed; (pl.) honors; laurels, palm, trophy. 2. Capture. 3. Privilege, gain, advantage. II. v. a. 1. Estimate, rate, appraise. 2. Esteem, value highly.

Moby Thesaurus

Academy Award, Nobel Prize, Oscar, accolade, accord respect to, admire, adore, aim, ambition, apotheosize, appraise, appreciate, apprize, arch, ascribe importance to, assay, assess, award, bar, barrow, beam, best, blackmail, boast, booby prize, boodle, boom, booty, boundary stone, brass, bust, cairn, calculate, calibrate, caliper, call, cant hook, carrot, catch, cenotaph, champion, check a parameter, cherish, choice, chosen, class, claw bar, column, compute, consolation prize, crank, cream, cromlech, cross, crow, crowbar, cup, cyclolith, dearest wish, dearly love, defer to, deify, desideration, desideratum, desire, dial, diamond, divide, dividend, dolmen, elect, elite, entertain respect for, esteem, estimate, evaluate, exalt, excellent, fair-trade, fat, fathom, favor, figure, find, first prize, first-rate, flower, footstone, for the best, forbidden fruit, form an estimate, fulcrumage, gain, gauge, gem, get a foothold, get leverage, give an appreciation, glimmering goal, goal, godsend, golden vision, good thing, graduate, graft, grave, gravestone, greatest, guerdon, guess, handpicked, handspike, haul, headstone, hero-worship, hoarstone, hold dear, hold in esteem, hold in reverence, honor, hope, hot goods, idolize, inscription, iron crow, jackpot, jewel, jimmy, lever, leverage, limb, lodestone, look up to, loot, love to distraction, magnet, make an estimation, make much of, mark, marker, marlinespike, matchless, mausoleum, measure, meed, megalith, memento, memorial, memorial arch, memorial column, memorial statue, memorial stone, menhir, mensurate, mete, meter, monolith, monument, mound, necrology, nonesuch, nonpareil, obelisk, obituary, optimal, optimum, outrigger, outstanding, pace, paragon, paramount, pearl, peavey, pedal, peerless, perks, perquisite, pick, picked, pickings, pillar, pinch bar, plaque, plum, plumb, plunder, pork barrel, premium, price, pride, pride and joy, prime, probe, pry, public till, public trough, purse, pyramid, quantify, quantize, queen, quintessence, quintessential, quote a price, rank, rate, rate highly, receipts, reckon, regard, reliquary, remembrance, respect, revere, reverence, reward, ribbon, ripping bar, rostral column, second prize, select, set store by, shaft, shrine, size, size up, sound, span, spar, spoil, spoils, spoils of office, squeeze, stakes, stealings, stela, step, stolen goods, stone, stupa, superior, superlative, supreme, surpassing, survey, swag, sweepstakes, tablet, take, take a reading, temptation, testimonial, the best, the best ever, the tops, the very best, think highly of, think much of, think well of, till, tomb, tombstone, top, tope, treadle, treasure, triangulate, trophy, trouvaille, unmatchable, unmatched, unparalleled, unsurpassed, valorize, valuate, value, venerate, very best, wedge, weigh, windfall, winner, winnings, wish, worship, wrecking bar