Word.ws English Dictionary

prick

/pɹɪk/

prick noun: a small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.

Noun

prick (plural pricks)

  1. A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.
  2. An indentation or small mark made with a pointed object.
  3. (obsolete) A dot or other diacritical mark used in writing; a point.
  4. (obsolete) A tiny particle; a small amount of something; a jot.
  5. A small pointed object.
    • Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    • It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 9:5
  6. The experience or feeling of being pierced or punctured by a small, sharp object.
    • I felt a sharp prick as the nurse took a sample of blood.
  7. A feeling of remorse.
    • the pricks of conscience1768–1777, Abraham Tucker, The Light of Nature Pursued
  8. (slang, vulgar) The penis.
    • Patriarchal attitudes have made a society where men rule and women obey, where "you'd-better-know-your-place-boy," where gay men actually play husband-and-wife (my lover and I did it for four years, until it became intolerable), where king prick lays down the law.1977 December 10, Arnold W. Klassen, “Looking For Alternatives: A New Political Analysis”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 23, page 13
  9. (derogatory, slang) Someone (especially a male) who is unpleasant, rude or annoying.
  10. (historical) A small roll of yarn or tobacco.
  11. The footprint of a hare.
  12. (obsolete) A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour.
    • the prick of noonc. 1591–1595 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  13. (obsolete) The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin.
    • they that shooten nearest the prick1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “September. Ægloga Nona.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC

Verb

prick (third-person singular simple present pricks, present participle pricking, simple past and past participle pricked)

  1. (transitive) To pierce or puncture slightly.
    • John hardly felt the needle prick his arm when the adept nurse drew blood.
    1. (transitive) To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness.
    2. (transitive) To shoot without killing.
      • They had shot at old Tom, the hare, too, but he is still alive; at least I pricked him yesterday morn across the path into the turnip field.1871, Robert Smith Surtees, Jorrocks's jaunts and jollities, page 48
  2. (transitive) To form by piercing or puncturing.
    • to prick holes in paper
    • to prick a pattern for embroidery
  3. (obsolete) To mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark.
    • Some who are pricked for sheriffs.c. 1620, Francis Bacon, letter of advice to Sir George Villiers
    • And, hark ye—let the soldiers for duty be carefully pricked off; and see that none of them be more or less partakers of your debauch.1823, [Walter Scott], “The Enrolment”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page 166
  4. (transitive) To mark the surface of (something) with pricks or dots; especially, to trace a ship’s course on (a chart).
  5. (obsolete) To run a middle seam through the cloth of a sail.
  6. To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing.
    • The cooks [...]prick it [a slice] on a prog of iron.1615, George Sandys, “(please specify the page)”, in The Relation of a Iourney Begun An: Dom: 1610. […], London: […] [Richard Field] for W. Barrett, →OCLC
    • I caused the edges of two knives to be ground truly strait; and pricking their points into a board, so that their edges might look towards one another, and, meeting near their points, contain a rectilinear angle1704, I[saac] N[ewton], “(please specify |book=1 to 3)”, in Opticks: Or, A Treatise of the Reflexions, Refractions, Inflexions and Colours of Light. […], London: […] Sam[uel] Smith, and Benj[amin]...
  7. (dated, intransitive) To be punctured; to suffer or feel a sharp pain, as by puncture.
    • A sore finger pricks.
    • By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  8. (ambitransitive) To make or become sharp; to erect into a point; to raise, as something pointed; said especially of the ears of an animal, such as a horse or dog; and usually followed by up.
    • The dog's ears pricked up at the sound of a whistle.
    • The courser [...] pricks up his ears.1697, Virgil, “The Second Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  9. Usually in the form prick out: to plant (seeds or seedlings) in holes made in soil at regular intervals.
    • Seed should be sown thinly and evenly to enable seedlings to be pricked out without disturbing those that have just emerged. If there is space, seedlings should be pricked out individually, either into small pots or module trays.2002 July 6, Carol Klein, “Coming up primroses”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 15 Feb 2013
    • All three germinate well in pots and can be pricked out and potted on with no problems. [...] Grass seeds can be collected as the heads begin to break up. Sow them in late spring, prick out small bundles of seedlings into 7.5cm (3in) pots and transplant them in late May.2005 October 22, Valerie Bourne, “Self-seeding”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 24 Nov 2013
  10. (transitive) To incite, stimulate, goad.
    • My duty pricks me on to utter that.c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and...
  11. (archaic, intransitive) To urge one's horse on; to ride quickly.
    • At last, as through an open plaine they yode,
      They spide a knight that towards them pricked fayre [...].1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
    • Part, on the plain or in the air sublime, / Upon the wing or in swift race contend, / As at the Olympian games or Pythian fields; / Part curb their fiery steed, or shun the goal / With rapid wheel, or fronted brigads form : / As when, to warn proud cities, war appears / Waged in the trouble sky...1667, John Milton, “Book II”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  12. To affect with sharp pain; to sting, as with remorse.
    • Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Acts 2:37
    • […] I was prick'd with some reproof, / As one that let foul wrong stagnate and be, / By having look'd too much thro' alien eyes, / And wrought too long with delegated hands, / Not used mine own: […]1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, page 93
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  1. (transitive) To make acidic or pungent.
    • For then their late Attracts decline,
      And turn as eager as prick'd Wine1662 (indicated as 1663), [Samuel Butler], “[The First Part of Hudibras]”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678; republished...
  2. (intransitive) To become sharp or acid; to turn sour, as wine.
  3. To aim at a point or mark.
    • This prayse belongeth to stronge shootinge and drawinge of mightye bowes, not to prickinge, and nere shootinge.1545, Roger Ascham, Toxophilus, the Schole of Shootinge […], London: […] Edouardi Whytchurch, →OCLC
    • With Broad-arrow, or But, or Prick, or Rouing Shaft, At Markes full fortie score, they vs'd to Prick, and Roue.1612, Michael Drayton, “(please specify the chapter)”, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned...
  4. (obsolete, usually) to dress or adorn; to prink.

prick meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

prick in Hindi

to prick
गोदना godnā
prick
डंक ḍaṅk

prick in Tamil

கூர்மையான பொருளைக் கொண்டு குத்து, வெறுப்பை வெளிப்படுத்துவது, பாவம் செய்ததற்குக் கவலைப்படுவது

prick in Urdu

to pierce
چھبنا chubnā

prick in Bengali

ফোড়ানো, বিদ্ধ করা
More languagesFewer languages
prick in Telugu
కుట్టు kuṭṭu, నాటు nāṭu
prick in Malayalam
ചെറിയ ദ്വാരം ഉണ്ടാക്കുക, മനസ്സു വിഷമിക്കുക, തുളയ്ക്കുക, കുത്തലുണ്ടാക്കുക
prick in Kannada
ಮುಳ್ಳು, ತೂತು, ಅಳುಕು, ಕುತ್ತು
prick in Punjabi
کاٹ kāṭ
prick in Gujarati
પ્રિક
prick in Sanskrit
अष्ट्रा aṣṭrā
prick in Assamese
খোঁচা khü̃sa, বিন্ধা bindha
prick in Nepali
कोट्याउनु koṭyāunu
prick in Arabic
زُبّ zubb, زُبْر zubr, أَيْر ʔayr
prick in Malay
butuh
prick in Indonesian
tusukan, kontol, peler, burung
prick in Thai
ควย kuai, ทิ่ม tîm

Examples of prick in a sentence

  • to prick the notes of a musical composition
  • Those many, then, shall die: their names are pricked.1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies...
  • Geoff might prefer to "take control": to collect seed and sow it next spring, pricking out a few of the best seedlings, growing them on in pots next summer before planting them out in the autumn.2015 September 21, Helen Yemm, “How to manage hollyhocks [print version: Hollyhock and elder care, evil weevils, 12 September 2015, page...
  • Indeed, it is a memorable subject for consideration, with what unconcern and gaiety mankind pricks on along the Valley of the Shadow of Death.1874–1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, London: C[harles] Kegan Paul & Co., […], published 1881, →OCLC:
  • It may be that his conscience pricked him, or that he had a glimpse of his sin and its coming punishment.1902 January, John Buchan, “The Outgoing of the Tide”, in The Watcher by the Threshold, and Other Tales, Edinburgh; London: William...

All 40 example sentences with prick

Synonyms of prick

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of prick

Forms of prick

Noun
pluralpricks
Verb
third-person singular presentpricks
present participlepricking
past participlepricked
pastpricked

Past tense of prick: pricked

Plural of prick: pricks

Origin of prick

From Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu (“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), from Proto-West Germanic *prikō, *priku, from Proto-Germanic *prikô, *prikō (“a prick, point”), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”). Cognate with West Frisian prik (“small hole”), West Frisian prikke (“penis”), Dutch prik (“point, small stick", also "penis”), Danish prik (“dot”), Icelandic prik (“dot, small stick”).

From Middle English prikken, from Old English prician, priccan (“to prick”), from Proto-Germanic *prikōną, *prikjaną (“to pierce, prick”), of uncertain origin; perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”). Cognate with dialectal English pritch, Dutch prikken (“to prick, sting”), Middle High German pfrecken (“to prick”), Swedish pricka (“to dot, prick”), and possibly to Lithuanian įbrėžti (“to scrape, scratch, carve, inscribe, strike”).

Words formed from prick

Phrases with prick

Words that rhyme with prick

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about prick

What does prick mean?
Prick means a small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.
What is prick in Hindi?
Prick in Hindi is गोदना (godnā), डंक (ḍaṅk). See Prick meaning in Hindi.
How do you use prick in a sentence?
to prick the notes of a musical composition
What part of speech is prick?
Prick can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce prick?
Prick is pronounced /pɹɪk/.
What is the plural of prick?
The plural of prick is pricks.

Words near prick in the dictionary

  1. pricing in
  2. pricing out
  3. pricing to sell
  4. pricing up
  5. pricings
  6. prick
  7. prick farrier
  8. prick farriers
  9. prick of perfection
  10. prick one's ears
  11. prick out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: prick (page history and authors); गोदना (Hindi) (page history and authors); prick (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Prick (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); కుట్టు (Telugu) (page history and authors); prick (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); prick (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); کاٹ (Punjabi) (page history and authors); prick (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); খোঁচা (Assamese) (page history and authors); कोट्याउनु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-prick.ogg.

Cite this entry: “prick.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prick. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.