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Webster 1913 Edition

Prick

Prick

,
Noun.
[AS.
prica
,
pricca
,
pricu
; akin to LG.
prick
,
pricke
, D.
prik
, Dan.
prik
,
prikke
, Sw.
prick
. Cf.
Prick
,
Verb.
]
1.
That which pricks, penetrates, or punctures; a sharp and slender thing; a pointed instrument; a goad; a spur, etc.; a point; a skewer.
Pins, wooden
pricks
, nails, sprigs of rosemary.
Shakespeare
It is hard for thee to kick against the
pricks
.
Acts ix. 5.
2.
The act of pricking, or the sensation of being pricked; a sharp, stinging pain; figuratively, remorse.
“The pricks of conscience.”
A. Tucker.
3.
A mark made by a pointed instrument; a puncture; a point.
Hence:
(a)
A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour.
[Obs.]
“The prick of noon.”
Shak.
(b)
The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin.
“They that shooten nearest the prick.”
Spenser.
(c)
A mark denoting degree; degree; pitch.
[Obs.]
“To prick of highest praise forth to advance.”
Spenser.
(d)
A mathematical point; – regularly used in old English translations of Euclid.
(e)
The footprint of a hare.
[Obs.]
4.
(Naut.)
A small roll;
as, a
prick
of spun yarn; a
prick
of tobacco.

Prick

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Pricked
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Pricking
.]
[AS.
prician
; akin to LG.
pricken
, D.
prikken
, Dan.
prikke
, Sw.
pricka
. See
Prick
,
Noun.
, and cf.
Prink
,
Prig
.]
1.
To pierce slightly with a sharp-pointed instrument or substance; to make a puncture in, or to make by puncturing; to drive a fine point into;
as, to
prick
one with a pin, needle, etc.; to
prick
a card; to
prick
holes in paper.
2.
To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing;
as, to
prick
a knife into a board
.
Sir I. Newton.
The cooks
prick
it [a slice] on a prong of iron.
Sandys.
3.
To mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark; – sometimes with off.
Some who are
pricked
for sheriffs.
Bacon.
Let the soldiers for duty be carefully
pricked
off.
Sir W. Scott.
Those many, then, shall die: their names are
pricked
.
Shakespeare
4.
To mark the outline of by puncturing; to trace or form by pricking; to mark by punctured dots;
as, to
prick
a pattern for embroidery; to
prick
the notes of a musical composition.
Cowper.
5.
To ride or guide with spurs; to spur; to goad; to incite; to urge on; – sometimes with on, or off.
Who
pricketh
his blind horse over the fallows.
Chaucer.
The season
pricketh
every gentle heart.
Chaucer.
My duty
pricks
me on to utter that.
Shakespeare
6.
To affect with sharp pain; to sting, as with remorse.
“I was pricked with some reproof.”
Tennyson.
Now when they heard this, they were
pricked
in their heart.
Acts ii. 37.
7.
To make sharp; to erect into a point; to raise, as something pointed; – said especially of the ears of an animal, as a horse or dog; and usually followed by up; – hence, to prick up the ears, to listen sharply; to have the attention and interest strongly engaged.
“The courser . . . pricks up his ears.”
Dryden.
8.
To render acid or pungent.
[Obs.]
Hudibras.
9.
To dress; to prink; – usually with up.
[Obs.]
10.
(Naut)
(a)
To run a middle seam through, as the cloth of a sail.
(b)
To trace on a chart, as a ship’s course.
11.
(Far.)
(a)
To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness.
(b)
To nick.

Prick

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To be punctured; to suffer or feel a sharp pain, as by puncture;
as, a sore finger
pricks
.
2.
To spur onward; to ride on horseback.
Milton.
A gentle knight was
pricking
on the plain.
Spenser.
3.
To become sharp or acid; to turn sour, as wine.
4.
To aim at a point or mark.
Hawkins.

Webster 1828 Edition

Prick

PRICK

, v.t.
1.
To pierce with a sharp pointed instrument or substance; as, to prick one with a pin, a needle, a thorn or the like.
2.
To erect a pointed thing, or with an acuminated point; applied chiefly to the ears, and primarily to the pointed ears of an animal. The horse pricks his ears, or pricks up his ears.
3.
To fix by the point; as, to prick a knife into a board.
4.
To hang on a point.
The cooks prick a slice on a prong of iron.
5.
To designate by a puncture or mark.
Some who are pricked for sheriffs, and are fit, set out of the bill.
6.
To spur; to goad; to incite; sometimes with on or off.
My duty pricks me on to utter that
Which no worldly good should draw from me.
But how if honor prick me off.
7.
To affect with sharp pain; to sting with remorse.
When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts. Acts 2. Ps.73.
8.
To make acid or pungent to the taste; as, wine is pricked.
9.
To write a musical composition with the proper notes on a scale.
10. In seamen's language, to run a middle seam through the cloth of a sail.
To prick a chart, is to trace a ship's course on a chart.

PRICK

,
Verb.
I.
To become acid; as, cider pricks in the rays of the sun.
1.
To dress one's self for show.
2.
To come upon the spur; to shoot along.
Before each van
Prick forth the airy knights.
3.
To aim at a point, mark or place.

PRICK

, n.
1.
A slender pointed instrument or substance, which is hard enough to pierce the skin; a goad; a spur.
It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts 9.
2.
Sharp stinging pain; remorse.
3.
A spot or mark at which archers aim.
4.
A point; a fixed place.
5.
A puncture or place entered by a point.
6.
The print of a hare on the ground.
7.
In seamen's language, a small roll; as a prick of spun yarn; a prick of tobacco.

Definition 2024

prick

prick

English

Noun

prick ‎(plural pricks)

  1. A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing. [from 10th c.]
  2. An indentation or small mark made with a pointed object. [from 10th c.]
  3. (obsolete) A dot or other diacritical mark used in writing; a point. [10th-18th c.]
  4. (obsolete) A tiny particle; a small amount of something; a jot. [10th-18th c.]
  5. A small pointed object. [from 10th c.]
    • Shakespeare
      Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary.
    • Bible, Acts ix. 5
      It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
  6. The experience or feeling of being pierced or punctured by a small, sharp object. [from 13th c.]
    I felt a sharp prick as the nurse took a sample of blood.
    • A. Tucker
      the pricks of conscience
  7. (slang, vulgar) The ****. [from 16th c.]
  8. (slang, pejorative) Someone (especially a man or boy) who is unpleasant, rude or annoying. [from 16th c.]
  9. (now historical) A small roll of yarn or tobacco. [from 17th c.]
  10. The footprint of a hare.
  11. (obsolete) A point or mark on the dial, noting the hour.
    • Shakespeare
      the prick of noon
  12. (obsolete) The point on a target at which an archer aims; the mark; the pin.
    • Spenser
      they that shooten nearest the prick
Translations
Derived terms

Etymology 2

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”).

Verb

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

  1. (transitive) To pierce or puncture slightly. [from 11th c.]
    John hardly felt the needle prick his arm when the adept nurse drew blood.
    1. (farriery) To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness.
  2. (transitive) To form by piercing or puncturing.
    to prick holes in paper
    to prick a pattern for embroidery
    to prick the notes of a musical composition
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Cowper to this entry?)
  3. (obsolete) To mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark.
    • Francis Bacon
      Some who are pricked for sheriffs.
    • Sir Walter Scott
      Let the soldiers for duty be carefully pricked off.
    • Shakespeare
      Those many, then, shall die: their names are pricked.
  4. (transitive, chiefly nautical) To mark the surface of (something) with pricks or dots; especially, to trace a ship’s course on (a chart). [from 16th c.]
  5. (nautical, obsolete) To run a middle seam through the cloth of a sail. (The Universal Dictionary of the English Language, 1896)
  6. To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing.
    to prick a knife into a board
    • Sandys:
      The cooks prick it [a slice] on a prong of iron.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Isaac Newton to this entry?)
  7. (intransitive, dated) To be punctured; to suffer or feel a sharp pain, as by puncture.
    A sore finger pricks.
    • 17th century (probably 1606), William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act IV, scene 1:
      By the pricking of my thumbs, / Something wicked this way comes.
  8. To make 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.
    • Dryden
      The courser […] pricks up his ears.
  9. (horticulture) Usually in the form prick out: to plant (seeds or seedlings) in holes made in soil at regular intervals.
    • 2002 July 6, Carol Klein, “Coming up primroses”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 15 February 2013:
      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.
    • 2005 October 22, Valerie Bourne, “Self-seeding”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 24 November 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.
    • 2015 September 21, Helen Yemm, “How to manage hollyhocks [print version: Hollyhock and elder care, evil weevils, 12 September 2015, page 7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Gardening), archived from the original on 25 September 2015:
      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.
  10. (transitive) To incite, stimulate, goad. [from 13th c.]
  11. (intransitive, archaic) To urge one's horse on; to ride quickly. [from 14th c.]
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)
  12. To affect with sharp pain; to sting, as with remorse.
    • Bible, Acts ii. 37
      Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart.
    • Tennyson
      I was pricked with some reproof.
  13. (transitive) To make acidic or pungent.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hudibras to this entry?)
  14. (intransitive) To become sharp or acid; to turn sour, as wine.
  15. To aim at a point or mark.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Hawkins to this entry?)
  16. (obsolete) Usually as prick up: to dress; to prink.

Translations

Swedish

Pronunciation

Adverb

prick

  1. exactly, sharp, on the spot
    vi träffas prick klockan sju
    let's meet at seven o'clock sharp
    att skjuta prick
    to shoot for a target

Noun

prick c

  1. a dot, small spot
    Sista bokstaven i det svenska alfabetet är "ö", det vill säga ett "o" med två prickar över.
    The last letter in the Swedish alphabet is "ö", that is, an "o" with two dots over it.
  2. a remark, a stain (in a record of good behaviour)
    Han har haft körkort i 40 år och kört utan prickar
    He's had a driver's license for 40 years and received no tickets
  3. a guy, person; especially about a particularly nice or funny one
    Det var en riktigt trevlig prick, det där.
    That was a really nice guy, that.
  4. a floating seamark in the form of a painted pole, possibly with cones, lights and reflectors
    Ser du om pricken därborta är en nord eller en ost?
    Can you see whether the mark over there is a north mark or an east mark?

Declension

Inflection of prick 
Singular Plural
Indefinite Definite Indefinite Definite
Nominative prick pricken prickar prickarna
Genitive pricks prickens prickars prickarnas

Usage notes

In the sense of "person", it is mainly used in conjunction with the adjectives rolig (funny) or trevlig (nice).

Derived terms

  • mitt i prick - right on the spot

Related terms

  • pricka
  • prickare
  • prickbelastning
  • prickblad
  • prickfri
  • prickig
  • prickmönster
  • prickning
  • pricksjuka
  • prickskjuta
  • prickskytt
  • prickskytte
  • pricksäker
  • ruskprick

References

Etymology

From Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu ‎(“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), 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”), Dutch prik ‎(“point, small stick”), Danish prik ‎(“dot”), Icelandic prik ‎(“dot, small stick”). Pejorative context came from prickers, or witch-hunters.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /pɹɪk/
  • Rhymes: -ɪk

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