prod1
/prɒd
/verb (prods, prodding, prodded) [with object]
1Poke with a finger, foot, or pointed object: he prodded her in the ribs [no object]: she took up a fork and prodded at the food...
- I poked and prodded at these sites in hopes to locate some remaining muscle tissue, but very little was found.
- Olivia poked and prodded at me for a few minutes as she tried to make sure that she knew what to fix and what to leave.
- Wind picks at a stray lace; I uncoil a hand from jacket cuff, poke out a finger and prod the lace back beside ankle under my foot, moving my foot slightly to make it stay in.
Synonyms
poke, jab, dig, nudge, elbow, butt, push, stab
1.1Stimulate or persuade (someone who is reluctant or slow) to do something: they attempted to prod the central bank into cutting interest rates...
- The August 28, 1963 March on Washington was planned to prod a reluctant Congress to enact a comprehensive civil rights bill.
- The main caveat here is to refrain from using hypnosis to prod a reluctant client/patient into this type of therapy.
- Nobody was in a hurry and none was seen prodding the organisers to get on with the item.
Synonyms
spur, stimulate, stir, rouse, prompt, drive, push, galvanize, move, motivate, encourage, persuade, urge, chivvy, impel, actuate;
incite, goad, egg on, provoke
noun
1A poke with a finger, foot, or pointed object: he gave the wire netting an experimental prod...
- After a few prods and pokes, he gave an injection for the pain, sat at his desk, lifted the phone and ordered the air ambulance.
- With appropriate physical gentleness, have a poke and a prod and check out the territory.
- But it was just a question of getting on with it with pokes and prods.
Synonyms
poke, jab, dig, nudge, butt, push, shove, thrust
1.1An act of stimulating or reminding someone to do something: you need a gentle prod to remind you that life is only what you make it...
- This is a gentle prod to the player to quickly finish off the game.
- A card full of love and silly jokes, and a gentle prod to point me back to my Bible, starting with the bits that I love.
- It is the force by which all wrongful things are repelled from us, the sharp prod which spurs the dullards onward.
Synonyms
stimulus, push, prompt, reminder, prompting, spur, motivation;
incitement, goad
2A pointed implement, typically one discharging an electric current and used as a goad: a cattle prod...
- Some writers have suggested that electric prods should never be used or should be used sparingly.
- The US soldiers wouldn't let him get back in the line and beat him with long batons and electric cattle prods.
- It said the ‘state thugs’ beat people with batons and electric cattle prods, injuring around a dozen people, including one person whose foot was broken.
Synonyms
goad, stick, spike
Phrases
on the prod
Derivatives
prodder
- In The Philippines Britain even sells their corrupt government torture instruments to keep the peasants in line like industrial cattle prodders and electrodes under various loop holes.
- Do electric prodders ‘spark’ when earthed, and can they be earthed, even lightly, without delivering the full jolt?
- He's been such a persistent presidential prodder on the issue, he's earned the ultimate accolade, a White House nickname: ‘The Pest.’
Origin
Mid 16th century (as a verb): perhaps symbolic of a short poking movement, or a blend of poke1 and dialect brod 'to goad, prod'. The noun dates from the mid 18th century.
Rhymes
Prod2
/prɒd/noun informal, offensive
(Especially in Ireland) a Protestant.
Origin
1940s: abbreviation representing a pronunciation.