prick
/prɪk
/verb [with object]
1Make a small hole in (something) with a sharp point; pierce slightly: prick the potatoes all over with a fork...
- Fee jammed her finger into a small hole, wincing as a needle pricked it, and a drop of blood fell on the DNA scanner.
- Two weeks before, she had pricked her index finger on a thorny cactus.
- When I crawl into my bag, a sharp object pricks my thigh and I grope after it: pinecone.
Synonyms
pierce, puncture, make/put a hole in, stab, perforate, rupture, riddle, penetrate, nick, spear, slit, incise, knife, bore, spike, skewer, spit, stick, punch, pin, needle, jag, jab
rare pink, transpierce
1.1 [no object] Feel a sensation as though a sharp point were sticking into one: she felt her scalp prick and her palms were damp...
- A strange, unfamiliar yet intimately familiar sensation pricked at her back then, and she reached back to touch… what on earth!
- Often had little Emit heard the sounds at night - sharp sounds that pricked at his ears and his temples.
- On Mother's Day here, there's a sharp piece of glass lodged under my heart, it pricks at my heart every so often today, to know my mom isn't here anymore.
1.2(Of tears) cause the sensation of imminent weeping in (a person’s eyes): tears of disappointment were pricking her eyelids...
- By the time Lydia had earned her breakfast, her delicate hands were red and stinging, and tears pricked her eyes as she bathed them.
- She told her twin of their sister without any emotion, and her brother only nodded, silent tears pricking his eyes and disappearing without falling.
- He felt tears pricking his eyes again, and brushed them away.
1.3Cause mental or emotional discomfort to: her conscience pricked her as she told the lie...
- High street stores peppered with products bearing the slogan ‘guarantees a better deal for Third World producers’ could be a familiar sight by the end of the year, if the campaign pricks the public's conscience.
- Even so their marriage is more than a mutually acceptable business proposition: he genuinely loves her in his way and she him in hers, so he claims when his conscience pricks him.
- The blind loyalty to a charismatic leader or group without heeding conscience when it pricks us on issues.
Synonyms
trouble, worry, distress, cause someone distress, perturb, disturb, oppress, harrow, harass, cause someone anguish, afflict, torment, plague, prey on, gnaw at, cut, touch, stab, pain, cause someone pain
1.4Provoke to action: the police were pricked into action by the horrifying sight...
- Dr. Nair wheedled, and often pricked, the group to bring out their concerns and knowledge about the needs and demands of adolescence.
- Even with her interest pricked, it was more by luck than design that she eventually found herself at drama college.
- He wasn't going to tell us, but now it seems he has been pricked into action.
Synonyms
goad, prod, incite, provoke, urge, spur, sting, whip, prompt, stimulate, encourage, inspire, motivate, push, propel, impel
2(Especially of a horse or dog) make (the ears) stand erect when on the alert: the dog’s ears were pricked...
- The horse pricked its ears and let loose a shrill whinny, trotting to Robyn.
- The three horses tied out front pricked their ears, giving a start.
- She looked back to her horse, whose ears were pricked forward in anticipation.
Synonyms
raise, erect, point
noun
1An act of piercing something with a sharp point: the pin prick had produced a drop of blood...
- He muttered under his breath as she was lost from sight and turned as a sharp prick was felt on his neck.
- I feel the prick of the pin against my skin and wonder where my friends and family would be in another time.
- One of the kings announces that Sancho Panza will bring Altisidora back to life by experiencing her suffering in the form of twenty-five slaps in the face, twelve pinches and six pricks with a pin on his arms and back.
1.1A small hole or mark made by pricking something.If there is evidence, what they're going to be looking for are some pitting of the metal, which are little tiny pinhole pricks....
- Two pricks were found on Cleopatra's arm, and it was believed that she had allowed herself to be bitten by an asp (a kind of poisonous snake).
Synonyms
hole, puncture, perforation, pinhole;
nick, wound, cut, gash
1.2A sharp pain caused by being pierced with a sharp point: he felt a tiny prick in his arm...
- Tiny pricks of pain jabbed her in numerous places.
- A sharp prick of pain registered in the back of her mind, causing her to jerk back in surprise, while at the same time, putting the tip of her slightly burned finger in her mouth.
- He winced as the sharp prick of pain told him he was awake and then smiled.
Synonyms
jab, sting, pinprick, stab, nick, jag
1.3A sudden feeling of an unpleasant emotion: she felt a prick of resentment...
- Feeling a sudden prick of danger, someone having stopped to offer her speedier passage to Portans, she felt the impulse to go for her dagger, but resisted and turned around at a calm rate.
- Indeed, had she and Colonel Leek been sharing confidential affections, he might have felt a prick of jealousy.
- A prick of fear nibbled at her new - found joy and she opened the door slowly.
Synonyms
pang, pricking, twinge, stab, gnawing
2 vulgar slang A man’s penis.
2.1A stupid or contemptible man.Not just stupid and dangerous, but a bigoted prick too - the photo he objected to was inter-racial....
- You changed me from a prick like Alex into someone who cares and besides you're so loving and caring.
- She would almost feel sorry for him and give in, if it wasn't for the fact that he was an incompetent prick.
3 archaic A goad for oxen.The prick was usually a wooden shaft with a pointed spike (prick) at one end....
- As a result, the prick would be driven deeper into the flesh of the rebellious animal.
Phrases
kick against the pricks
one's ears prick up
prick up one's ears
a spare prick at a wedding
Phrasal verbs
prick something out
Derivatives
pricker
- Applying these labyrinthine designs were the kol'shchiki or ‘zone prickers.’
- Watch the bushes, the opening is hidden by prickers.
- Hotsuma walked on further, walking under lower branches and avoiding prickers.
Origin
Old English pricca (noun), prician (verb), probably of West Germanic origin and related to Low German and Dutch prik (noun), prikken (verb).