prick1 verbprick2 noun
prickprick1 /prɪk/ verb 
VERB TABLE
prick
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | prick |
| he, she, it | pricks | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | pricked |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have pricked |
| he, she, it | has pricked | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had pricked |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will prick |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have pricked |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am pricking |
| he, she, it | is pricking | |
| you, we, they | are pricking | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was pricking |
| you, we, they | were pricking | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been pricking |
| he, she, it | has been pricking | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been pricking |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be pricking |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been pricking |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Prick the potatoes before baking them.
- A small bead of blood formed where she had pricked her finger.
- She accidentally pricked herself with a contaminated needle.
- Tears pricked my eyes and stung in my throat.
- With a fork, prick holes in the cake layers.
- A domestic goose is cooked when the juices from the breast run pale yellow when pricked.
- His ears pricked themselves to attention as he became aware of the master's mood.
- How to reassure this woman when her question pricked his own uncertainty?
- I pricked my ears up on that one.
- Pale ears beneath a boyish crewcut were pricked up alertly.
- When tender, the peel sinks to the bottom of the pan and you can prick it easily with a fork.
- With the pricking of the Wall Street bubble, that theory is now itself history.
Longman Language Activatorto make a hole in the ground or surface of something
to make a space by removing the inside part of something: hollow out something/hollow something out: · Carefully hollow out the pineapple and then fill it with the ice-cream.
British to make a hole in the ground using a tool that is made for digging: · To plant the tree you need to dig out a hole about 20 cm wide and 30 cm deep.· The workmen were already digging out the foundations for the building.
to make a deep cut in a surface, using something sharp, especially in order to remove something: · The blade gouged a deep wound in her leg.gouge out something/gouge something out (=remove something by violently cutting a hole): · In the play he tries to gouge out his own eyes.
to make a very small hole in something, especially accidentally, using something pointed such as a pin: · A small bead of blood formed where she had pricked her finger.· Prick the potatoes before baking them.
to make a narrow hole in something using a tool that turns round and round very quickly: · I heard the dentist start drilling, but I couldn't feel anything.drill for oil/water/gas etc: · Oil companies still drill for oil off Santa Barbara.drill into: · It sounds like someone's drilling into the wall.
to make a hole in a hard surface such as rock or the ground using a lot of pressure, especially in order to find or remove minerals, coal etc: · The mining company bored a 5000 foot hole.· The machine they used to bore the tunnel is the size of a two storey house.bore into/through: · They had to bore through solid rock.
to accidentally hit the surface of something, especially something metal, so that part of the surface is bent or slightly lower than the rest: · He accidentally dented the garage door, trying to reverse in.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
(=accidentally make a hole in your skin)
She had pricked her finger on a rose thorn.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES She had pricked her finger on a rose thorn. (=make someone feel guilty)· Some of the things he’d done still pricked his conscience.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· The criss-cross pattern of streets, pricked out by street lights, flowed inland until the town petered out into blackness.· Parnell Forbes: one eye pricked out, with an acacia thorn.· It was growing dusk; stars were pricking out in the cold sky above them.· One vacation she was given a holiday job in the palace gardens, pricking out marigolds.· She wanted to remain in the earthy warmth of the glass-house, watching him pricking out seedlings.· That way you avoid the hazards of pricking out seedlings and keep root disturbance to a minimum.· When floating leaves start coming to the surface of the water the plants are ready for pricking out.· The dark galaxy spiralled around her, each constellation pricked out in delicate shades of fragrance.
· When I referred to this restaurant of his, the Skein of Geese, her ears pricked up.· My ears pricked up at every sound on the stairs.· As soon as I heard the word Deptford my ears pricked up.· Pale ears beneath a boyish crewcut were pricked up alertly.· Henry pushed his door open a crack, and pricked up his ears.· I pricked up my ears, and sure enough, the sound was getting louder.· The boy pricked up his ears, because, as it happened, so they were this earth.· Yet it was that touring and the inspired mania of their shows that pricked up the ears at Arista Records.
NOUN· We subscribe in order to have our consciences pricked, not to be amused and entertained.· Tomalin could resume her normal existence and literary pursuits, putting aside the fortnight of having conscience pricked and self-control tested.· Later Rameshwar became ill and his conscience pricked him because of his evil treatment of Tukaram, and he asked to be forgiven.
· When I referred to this restaurant of his, the Skein of Geese, her ears pricked up.· The horse has a braided tail and ears pricked as if eager to be off.· She didn't look back, and she didn't linger, but her ears were pricked at every step.· My ears pricked up at every sound on the stairs.· His ears pricked themselves to attention as he became aware of the master's mood.· As soon as I heard the word Deptford my ears pricked up.· The ears have it Ears pricked: in alarm, or on meeting another horse.· The two wolves stood by his horse with their ears pricked, and suddenly they began growling deep in their throats.
· Matters were not helped by Maeve occasionally pricking her finger with the needle, but at last she had had her say.· The coarse fibers of the rope pricked her fingers.· She once pricked my finger-a gentle, hilarious spearing-and took some blood for a lesson on cells.· The princess tried the spindle, but pricked her finger.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► prick (up) its ears
1[transitive] to make a small hole in something using something sharp: - Gordimer's novels pricked the conscience of white South Africans.
- Henry pushed his door open a crack, and pricked up his ears.
- I pricked my ears up on that one.
- I pricked up my ears, and sure enough, the sound was getting louder.
- The boy pricked up his ears, because, as it happened, so they were this earth.
- The horse, scenting home and supper, pricked his ears and stepped out.
Prick the sausages before you grill them.prick yourself/prick your finger (=accidentally make a hole in your skin) She had pricked her finger on a rose thorn.2[intransitive, transitive] if something pricks a part of your body, or if it pricks, you feel small sharp pains: Angry tears pricked her eyes. a curious pricking sensation3prick somebody’s conscience if something pricks someone’s conscience or their conscience pricks them, they feel guilty or ashamed: Her conscience pricked her as she told the lie.4prick (up) its ears if an animal pricks up its ears, it raises them to listen to a sound: The rabbit stopped suddenly, pricking up its ears.5prick (up) your ears if you prick up your ears or your ears prick up, you listen carefully because you have heard something interesting: Jay pricked up his ears when I mentioned a vacation.prick something↔ out phrasal verb British English to place young plants in soil after you have grown them from seedprick1 verbprick2 noun
prickprick2 noun [countable] 1person taboo spoken a very offensive word for a stupid unpleasant man. Do not use this word.2sex organ informal not polite a penis3point entering a)a slight pain you get when something sharp goes into your skin: I didn’t feel the prick of the needle. b) British English an act of pricking something: Give the sausages a prick. → pinprick4emotion a sudden slight feeling you get when you are unhappy about somethingprick of She felt a prick of resentment when she saw them together.5prick of conscience an uncomfortable feeling that you have done something wrong