DictionaryAI

prick

PRIK/pɹɪk/

Verbpricks, pricking, pricked

Noun pluralpricks

28 meanings of prick

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To pierce something slightly with a sharp point, or to make small holes or a pattern in it in this way.

    Prick the sausages with a fork before you grill them.

    The nurse pricked his fingertip to check his blood sugar.

    UsageOften prick something with a fork or pin, or prick your finger on a needle.

  2. 2
    rude mannounslangderogatoryvulgarcountable
    An unpleasant, rude, or annoying person, especially a man.

    He cut in line, laughed about it, and generally behaved like a prick.

    Some smug prick keyed my car in the parking lot.

    Similarasshole, bastard, berk

    Note

    The insult grows out of the vulgar word for the penis and keeps all of its coarseness. It is aimed mostly at men, but because it judges behavior rather than anatomy, a woman who acts that way can be called one too.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

  3. 3
    nouncountable
    A small hole, dent, or mark made by piercing something with a sharp point.

    A single prick in the foil lid lets steam escape while the dish heats.

    The old map was covered in pricks where pins had once held it to the wall.

    Similarpuncture, hole, pinhole, perforation

  4. 4
    needle feelingnouncountable
    The sensation of being pierced by something small and sharp, such as a needle.

    Apart from the brief prick of the needle, the vaccination was painless.

    She barely noticed the pricks of the acupuncture needles.

    UsageOften a sharp prick or the prick of a needle.

    Similarsting, jab

  5. 5
    raise earsverbtransitive or intransitive
    To raise something pointed, or to stand up in a point, especially of an animal's ears; usually followed by up.

    Deer prick up their ears at the faintest snap of a twig.

    Her ears pricked up when someone mentioned a job opening.

    UsageUsually prick up its ears, or the ears prick up. Of people, it means start paying attention.

    Similarcock, perk, raise

    Note

    Dryden's Virgil (1697) has a courser prick up his ears. Said of people, prick up one's ears means to start paying sudden attention.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

  6. 6
    trouble (conscience)verbtransitive
    To cause someone a sharp pain, especially a stinging feeling of remorse.

    Memories of the argument still prick her whenever she hears his name.

    A sense of shame pricked him, and he went back to return the extra change.

    UsageOften conscience or guilt is the subject: her conscience pricked her.

    Similarsting, pain, trouble, nag

    Note

    The verb works in two directions. A person can be pricked in the heart or pricked with reproof, as in the King James Bible and Tennyson's Enid (1859), or the feeling can do the pricking itself, as when John Buchan writes that a man's conscience pricked him.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts

  7. 7
    penisnounslangvulgarcountable
    The penis.

    The comedian's whole routine was one long joke about his own prick.

    Crude pricks scrawled in marker covered the back of the bus shelter.

    Similardick, cock

  8. 8
    verbintransitive
    To be punctured, or to feel a sharp pain as though from a puncture.

    His eyes began to prick as he read the last lines of the letter.

    By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes.
    c. 1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”

    UsageOften of eyes and tears: my eyes pricked, prick with tears.

    Similarsting, smart, tingle

    Note

    In this use the part that hurts is the subject, as in a sore finger pricks, and nothing need be doing the piercing. Macbeth gives it a famous line, by the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes, where the tingle is a warning.

    Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Macbeth contains this famous quotation, spoken by the Second Witch. rsc.org.uk
    • The sensation warns the Second Witch of an approaching wicked presence. en.wikisource.org
  9. 9
    plant seedlingsverbtransitive
    In gardening, usually as prick out: to lift young seedlings from where they sprouted and replant them farther apart, in pots, trays, or a bed.

    Prick out the strongest lettuce seedlings and space them a few inches apart.

    Once the basil had been pricked out into cell trays, it grew quickly.

    UsageUsually prick out the seedlings, or prick them out.

    Similartransplant

    Note

    A gardener's first transplant goes by this name: seedlings are lifted while tiny and set one by one, or in small bundles, into pots or module trays to grow on.

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

  10. 10
    urge onverbtransitive
    To urge someone forward or stir them into action, as a goad drives an animal.

    Rivalry can prick even a lazy student into real effort.

    A friend's quiet challenge pricked her into signing up for night classes at last.

    UsageUsually prick someone into doing something.

    Similarspur, goad, prod, drive, urge

    Oppositediscourage

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of prick apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 2–4, 7, 11, 15–18

Old English prica, pricu ("a sharp point, dot, small portion") became Middle English prik. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *prikô ("a prick, point"), whose origin is uncertain, though it is perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *breyǵ- meaning "to scratch, scrape." Dutch prik ("point, small stick") and Danish prik ("dot") are related.

Meanings 1, 5–6, 8–10, 12–14, 19–20

Old English prician, priccan ("to prick") became Middle English prikken. Behind it is Proto-Germanic *prikōną ("to pierce, prick"), whose origin is uncertain, though it is perhaps from a Proto-Indo-European root *breyǵ- meaning "to scratch, scrape." Relatives include Dutch prikken ("to prick, sting") and Swedish pricka ("to dot, prick").