| 释义 |
▪ I. prick, n.|prɪk|
Forms: 1 pric(c)a, price, (pryce), 2, 5–6 prike (5 pryke); 3–7 pricke, 4– prick (4–6 prikke, prik, 5 prykke, prikk, 5–7 pryck, -e, pryk).
[OE. prica, pricca m., price f. = mod.Du. prik m. († prick Kilian) a sharp point or stick, prickle, etc.; LG. prik a dot, spot, point, prik, prikke a pricking instrument; WFris. prik; also Icel. prik a dot, a little stick (? from Eng.), Da. prik, Norw. prikk, Sw. prick (fr. LG.) a dot, mark. From same root as prick v., q.v. See also pritch n. (The W. pric stick, broach, and Ir. prioca sting, are from Eng.)]
I. An impression or mark made by pricking.
1. a. An impression in a surface or body made by pricking or piercing; a puncture: = point n.1 1.
(This seems to be etymologically the earliest sense, and is app. the meaning in ælfric.)
c1000ælfric Gram. xxviii. (Z.) 180 Pungo, ic priciᵹe..(of ðam is nama punctus prica [v.r. pricca]). 13..Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. lii. 58 In fot and hond bereþ blodi prikke. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. viii. 41 b, They haue firste p[r]icked them, out of which prickes do..breed certaine..wormes. 1638R. Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III) 113 The less credulous tooke the pricke of a pinne for a Saintes marke. 1878Browning Poets Croisic cxli, No pin's prick The tooth leaves. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 1078 The prick may continue to drip for hours.
b. spec. in Farriery. A puncture or wound in the quick or sole of the foot of a horse.
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 322 Of a Prick in the sole of the Foot, by treading on a nail, or any other sharp thing. 1831Youatt Horse 303 Prick or wound in the sole or crust... The sole is very liable to be wounded by nails, pieces of glass, or even sharp flints, but much more frequently the fleshy little plates are wounded by the nail in shoeing. 1899Allbutt's Syst. Med. VIII. 788 Loosening and detachment of the nail following a ‘prick’ or crush.
c. The footprint or track of a hare.
1598Florio, Pedata, a track,..the print of a foote,..the prick of a hare. 1741Compl. Fam.-Piece ii. i. 301 If it be smooth and plain within,..so that you may discern the Pricks,..then endeavour to recover the Hare upon the Trail. 1875‘Stonehenge’ Brit. Sports i. i. i. §5. 8 [The hare] leaves her mark or prick in the soil.
2. a. A minute mark made by slightly pricking or indenting a surface with a pointed tool; formerly also the impression or mark made with the point of a pen or pencil or the like, or a mark having this appearance; a dot, tick, point. Cf. point n.1 2. Now rare or Obs.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 188 Heo hæfð on æᵹhwylcum leafe twa endebyrdnyssa fæᵹerra pricena & þa scinað swa gold. c1391Chaucer Astrol. ii. §5 Set ther a prikke of ynke. Ibid. §42, Y sette þer a prikke at my foote; þan goo [y] ner to þe tour,..& þere y sette a-noþer prikke. 1530Palsgr. 258/1 Pricke a marke, marque. 1607Norden Surv. Dial. iii. 129 Upon this line I make a pricke, which is the very station where the instrument is supposed to stand. 1676T. Miller Compl. Modellist 1 Set 1 foot of your Compasses at B, and with the other mark a prick at G. 1766Compl. Farmer s.v. Surveying, A point is..ordinarily expressed with a small prick, like a period at the end of a sentence.
†b. Each of the marks by which the circumference of a dial is divided, or the divisions of any scale indicated. Obs. rare.
1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. iv. 119 The bawdy hand of the Dyall is now vpon the pricke of Noone. 1593― 3 Hen. VI, i. iv. 34 Now Phaeton hath tumbled from his Carre, And made an Euening at the Noone-tide Prick.
†3.
a. A dot or other small mark used in writing or printing; as, a punctuation or metrical mark, a diacritical point, the points in Hebrew or other languages, etc.; = point n.1 3. Obs.
c1000ælfric Gram. l. (Z.) 291 Se forma prica on þam ferse is ᵹehaten media distinctio, þæt is on middan todal. 1530Palsgr. 11 If they..be nat part of a diphthong, they shall have ii prickes over theyr heed, thus ÿ, v̈. 1567Salesbury Playne Introd. E j, The sound of u, in French, or ü, wyth two prickes ouer the heade in Duch. 1605Willet Hexapla Gen. 26 This word Iehouah..borroweth all the prickes from Adonai. 1646Topicks in Laws of Eng. Errata, Some mistakes are in the pricks and commaes. 1693J. Edwards Author. O. & N. Test. 53 One tittle..is meant of those little horns, pricks and dots belonging to the Hebrew letters.
†b. A mark or dot used in musical notation; = point n.1 4. (a) In mediæval music, a note. (b) In later musical notation, a dot placed after a note or rest for various purposes. Cf. prick v. 13.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. Annot., A pricke is a kinde of Ligature, so that if you would tie a semibrief and a minime together you may set a pricke after the semibrief, and so you shall bind them. Ibid. 12 Phi. I pray you say what Prickes or poynts signifie in singing. Ma... As your rests signified the whole lengthe of the notes in silence, so dothe the pricke the halfe of the note going before to be holden out in voyce..and this pricke is called a pricke of augmentation. 1659C. Hoole Comenius' Vis. World xcix. (1672) 203/1 Musique setteth Tunes with Pricks. 1674Playford Skill Mus. i. viii. 27 This Prick of Perfection or Addition is ever placed on the right side of all Notes, for the prolonging the sound of that Note it follows. 1749Numbers in Poet. Comp. 31 By a proper Use of the Pricks and Pauses it may be so contrived..as to make no alteration in the Time of the Tune, or manner of beating it.
II. A minute particle.
†4. A point of space (or particle of matter) viewed in reference to its minuteness, a mere point.
c1374Chaucer Boeth. ii. pr. vii. 44 (Camb. MS.) Al the enuyronynge of the erthe abowte ne halt but the resoun of a prikke at regard of the gretnesse of heuene. 1601Holland Pliny I. 33 This little pricke of the world (for surely the earth is nothing else in comparison of the whole). 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. i. iii. 343 In such Indexes, although small prickes To their subsequent Volumes, there is seene The baby figure of the Gyant-masse Of things to come at large. 1616Boys Expos. Proper Ps. lvii. 102 The earth..compared vnto the greatnes of the starrie skies circumference, is but a center or little pricke.
†5. A minute part or quantity of anything; a jot, whit, particle; = point n.1 6.
to the prick, to the smallest jot, with minute exactness or precision.
In the first quot. and in quots. 1579, 1645, orig. fig. from 3.
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. v. 18 An i oððe an prica [Royal MS. pryce; c 1160 Hatton G. an prike] ne ᵹewit fram þære æ. a1225Ancr. R. 228, & te deouel ne mei nout gon furðer a pricke. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 4270 Alle thire thinges..wille he weghe streytly thare And to the prikke thaire value tofore alle men declare. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. ii. lii, Of all that rout was neuer a prik disioynt. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) II. 291 Syne all the lawe remanand wes behind, Rycht equalie,..Be the leist prick..Distribute hes amang his men of weir. 1579Fulke Heskins's Parl. 84 Not a iote, or a pricke of the law shall passe, vntill all be fulfilled. 1645Ussher Body Div. (1647) 13 Not one jot or prick of the Law shall perish.
†6.
a. The smallest portion of time; an instant, moment; = point n.1 7. Obs.
1340Ayenb. 71 Þaȝ he leuede a þousond year þet ne ssolde by bote onlepy prikke to þe zyȝþe of þe oþre lyue þet eure wyþoute ende ssel yleste. 1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. viii. (Skeat) l. 128 That dureth but a pricke, in respecte of the other. 1577tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 75 They that shall bee then liuing..shall in a very prick of time be changed. 1579Twyne Phisicke agst. Fort. i. xcii. 114 The tyme present is lesse then a pricke, and euermore vnstable.
†b. In mediæval measure of time: The fourth or (according to some) the fifth part of an hour; = point n.1 10. Cf. atom n. 7. Obs.
c1000ælfric Hom. (Th.) I. 102 And swa swa se mona dæghwonlice feower pricon lator arist, swa eac seo sæ symle feower pricum lator fleowð. c1050Byrhtferth's Handboc in Anglia VIII. 317 Feower puncti æt synt prican, wyrcað ane tid on þære sunnan ryne... Syx and hundniᵹontiᵹ prican beoð on þam dæᵹe.
†c. Astron. = digit n. 4, point n.1 11. Obs.
1561Eden Arte Nauig. ii. viii. 35 The quantitie of these Eclipses, the Astronomers deuide into .xii. equall partes, as well the Diameter of the Sunne as of the Moone. And these partes they call fyngers, punctes or prickes.
III. A point in reference to position.
†7. A point in space; a geometrical point: = point n.1 18. Obs.
[1387–8T. Usk Test. Love i. viii. (Skeat) l. 95 A pricke is wonder little, in respecte of all the cercle.] 1551Recorde Pathw. Knowl. i. Defin., A Poynt or a Prycke, is named of Geometricians that small and vnsensible shape, whiche hath in it no partes, that is to say: nother length, breadth, nor depth. 1555Eden Decades 247 Zenith (that is the pricke ouer the head). 1578Banister Hist. Man viii. 103 That which you see in the centre, or middle pricke of the eye is named Pupilla. 1589P. Ive Fortif. 10 Draw a right line..which must cut the line C.D. in the pricke E. a1619M. Fotherby Atheom. ii. ix. §3 (1622) 296 Hee calleth a Pricke the parent of all magnitude.
†8. A point marking a stage in progression; degree, pitch. the prick, the height, highest point, apex, acme. Cf. point n.1 22. Obs.
c1386Chaucer Man of Law's T. 21 Alle dayes of poure men been wikke Be war therfore er thou come to that prikke. a1400–50Alexander 45 Þer preued neuer nane his prik for passing of witt, Plato nor Piktagaras ne Prektane him seluen. c1510More Picus Wks. 7/1 He was come to that pricke of parfit humilitie. 1548Udall, etc. Erasm. Par. Matt. iii. 30 Endeuour with all your herte to the hygh prycke of vertue. 1594Plat Jewell-ho. i. 30 Vntill you haue attayned vnto the verie pricke of proportion. 1606Holland Sueton. 141 Setting the prices..and enhaunsing the same to such a prick, that some men enforced to buye certaine things at an extreame and exceeding rate..cut their owne veines and so bled to death.
†9. The precise instant of time at which anything happens; the critical moment: = point n.1 23. prick of the day (after Fr. le point du jour), daybreak. Obs.
c1400Laud Troy Bk. 6639 He was dryuen so ney the prikke, That he myght not his lippis likke. c1422Hoccleve Learn to Die 847 Remembre or þat he come to the prikke. c1460Towneley Myst. xxx. 370, I trowd it drew nere the prik. c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 927 At the prick of the day, au point du jour.
IV. In archery.
†10.
a. The mark aimed at in shooting; the spot in the centre of the target; the bull's-eye; hence, a target, esp. one at a fixed distance, having such a mark in its centre. (Opposed in the latter sense to butt n.4 2 and rover.) Obs.
1382Wyclif 1 Sam. xx. 20 And Y shal sende thre arowis biside it, and shal throwe as hauntynge me to a prik [1388 exercisynge me at a signe [v.r. marke]]. c1400Sowdone Bab. 2260 Thou kanste welle hit the prikke. 1464Mann. & Househ. Esp. (Roxb.) 269 Item, payd..for my masterys lossys att the prykkys, viij.d. Item, at the buttys, viij.d. 1477Earl Rivers (Caxton) Dictes 89 An archier to faile of the butte is no wonder, but to hytte the pryke is a greet maistrie. 1541Act 33 Hen. VIII, c. 9 §4 No man, vnder the age of .xxiiii. yeres, shall shote at anie standing pricke, excepte it be at a rouer. 1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 113 A bowe of Ewe must be hadde for perfecte shootinge at the prickes. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. III. 1208/1 Diuerse of the court..shot dailie at pricks set vpon the Thames. 1611Markham Country Content. i. i. (1668) 46 The Prick is a Mark of some compasse, yet most certain in the distance. 1845J. Saunders Cabinet Pict. Eng. Life, Chaucer 89 In every village were three kinds of marks set up:..the prick, a ‘mark of compass’, requiring strong light arrows, with feathers of moderate size.
†b. twelve (twenty-four) score prick: a ‘prick’ or target placed 240 (or 480) paces distant, the regular distance at which shooting at the prick was practised. Obs.
1569in Camden's Eliz. (1717) Pref. 29 The shotinge with the Standerd, the shotinge with the brode arrowe, the shotinge at the twelve skore prick, the shotinge at the Turke. 1602Carew Cornwall (1811) 194 Their shaft was a cloth yard, their pricks twenty-four score. 1608Pennyless Parl. in Harl. Misc. (Malh.) III. 76 A Turk can be hit at twelve score pricks in Finsbury Fields. 1620Middleton & Rowley World Tost at Tennis Induct. 67 The bowman's twelve score prick.
†11. fig. (or in fig. context): That at which one aims; an object, end: = point n.1 28. Obs.
c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 528 Than myghte siluer walke more thikke Among þe peple þan þat it doþ now; Ther wolde I fayne that were sette the prikke. a1533Ld. Berners Gold. Bk. M. Aurel. (1546) R j b, They shote at the pricke of the woman's beautie. 1558Morwyng Ben Gorion (1567) 1 Seyng all the prophetes haue bent and directed their prophesies..to this pricke, that the kingdome of the house of Dauid should be restored. 1592Timme Ten Eng. Lepers C ij, What madnes is it then in those men, who because they cannot be in the prick, wil not be in y⊇ but neither.
V. Anything that pricks or pierces; an instrument or organ having a sharp point.
12. a. A small sharp projecting organ or part; a thorn or prickle; a spine on the skin of an animal, or the like. Now rare or Obs.
a1300Cursor M. 24084 A crun o thorn his hefd on stod, Þat ilk prick broght vte þe blod. 1390Gower Conf. I. 283 And thus myn hand ayein the pricke I hurte and have do many day And go so forth as I go may. c1440Promp. Parv. 413/1 Pryke, or pynne, spintrum, vel spinter. 1519Interl. Four Elem. in Hazl. Dodsley I. 14 In comparison..they be so small, No more than the pricks that be on a gall. 1548Turner Names of Herbes (1881) 17 It [Asparagus] maye be called in englishe pricky Sperage, because it is all full of pryckes. 1579–80North Plutarch (1676) 998 As pricks be hidden under Roses. 1633Bp. Hall Occas. Medit. (1851) 136 [The hedgehog] knows how to roll up itself round within those thorns,..so as the dog, instead of a beast, finds now nothing but a ball of pricks to wound his jaws. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 84/2 The Thorns or pricks, are sharp points growing from the branches of some trees.
†b. The sting of a bee, scorpion, or the like.
1382Wyclif Rev. ix. 10 Thei hadden tayles lijk of scorpiouns, and prickes weren in the tayles of hem. c1386Chaucer Pars. T. ⁋394 Bees, whan they maken hir kyng, they chesen oon that hath no prikke wherwith he may stynge. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 3378 Othir bees, prikkes han euerichon.
†c. fig. Something that causes mental irritation, vexation, or torment; a ‘thorn’, sting. Obs.
prick of conscience: see 19.
c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. II. 264 God ȝaf him [Paul] a prikke of his fleish, an angel of þe fend to tempte him. 1382― 1 Cor. xv. 55 Deeth, wher is thi pricke? Forsoth the pricke of deeth is synne. 1600Holland Livy xxvi. xl. 615 It was never well taken by Hanno, nor joyously accepted, in regard of the person, who was a pricke alwaies in his eie. 1612T. Taylor Comm. Titus Ded., That cursed race of the Cananites, who were ever pricks in the sides, and thornes in the eyes of Gods people. 1645Ussher Body Div. (1647) 374 Who will seem to forgive, and yet keep a prick and quarrell in their hearts.
13. a. A goad for oxen. to kick († work, spurn) against the pricks: said of oxen; now arch. and usually fig. (after Acts ix. 5): cf. kick v.1 1 c.
c1350Nominale Gall.-Angl. (E.E.T.S.) 862 Feut et agiloun, gode and prikke. 1382[see kick v.1 1 c]. 14..Cursor M. 19626 (Fairf.) Hit is to þe ful harde & wik For to wirk a-gaine þe prik. c1440Promp. Parv. 413/1 Pryk, or prykyl (S. prykkar), stimulus, stiga. 1520Nisbet N. Test. in Scots, Acts xxii. 7 It is hard to thee to spurn aganis the prick. 1530Palsgr. 258/1 Pricke to drive oxen with, aguillon. 1679Blount Anc. Tenures 17 Pryk signifies a Goad or Spur. 1775Romans Florida App. 56 In that case an attempt to beat up under Cuba will be nothing better than kicking against the pricks. 1904M. Corelli God's Good Man i, For the past ten years he has known what it is to ‘kick against the pricks’ of legitimate Church authority.
†b. fig. That which incites or stimulates; a spur, an incentive. Obs.
1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VII. 397 He feng þe prikkes of þe love of God. c1450Mirour Saluacioun 2421 His prikke specially is a womman gloosyng. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 240 b, The moost speciall medicyne & prycke agaynst slouth. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse (Arb.) 29 Which rather effeminate the minde, as pricks vnto vice, then procure amendement of manners, as spurres to vertue. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 114 The greatest wits are ever by the prickes of emulation driven forward to greater matters.
14. A slender piece of wood or metal tapering to a sharp point, used to fasten things or parts of a thing together; a skewer; a pin (or in quot. 1721 a thorn) for fastening one's clothes; a thatcher's broach. Also, an early kind of knitting-needle; cf. knitting-prick (knitting vbl. n. 3). See also pudding-prick. Obs. exc. Hist.
1377in Cowell Interpr. s.v. Pryk, Per servitium inveniendi unum equum, unum saccum & unum Pryk in Guerra Walliæ. c1440Promp. Parv. 413/1 Prykke, for pakkys, broccus. c1450Two Cookery-bks. 82 Take a prik, and prik him togidur, And lete him roste. 1530Palsgr. 258/1 Pricke to pricke meate, brochette. 1551[see prick-tree]. 1578Lyte Dodoens vi. li. 726 The wilde Cornell tree..Butchers vse it to make prickes of it. 1578[see prick-timber]. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. iii. ii. iii. iii. (1651) 477 Set out with bables, as a Butchers meat is with pricks. c1630MS. Egerton 923 lf. 3 Like to a packe without a pricke, Or o-per-se in arithmeticke. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xiv. (Roxb.) 19/2 Thatchers Termes... Thatch pricks, and binding pricks. [1707Rec. Convention R. Burghs Scotl. (1880) I. 431 For the better improvement of stocking manufactures it is thought fitt that for hereafter all prick stockings may be made of three plyed wosten and of due proportione.] 1721Kelly Scot. Prov. 184 It's a bare Moor that you'll go o'er, and no get Prick to your Blanket. Ibid. 198 If ever you make a good Pudding, I'll eat the Prick. That is, I am much mistaken if ever you do good. 1838W. Howitt Rural Life Eng. I. iii. iii. 309 They knit with crooked pins called pricks. 1969E. H. Pinto Treen 304 Bow curved needles, made from wire sharpened both ends..and known as pricks, were commonly used for ‘bump’ or coarse knitting.
15. A pointed weapon or implement. Applied to † a dagger or pointed sword; † a fish-spear (obs.); a pronged eel-spear (local: cf. pick n.1 4 d); a small chisel or punch used by stone-workers; etc.
1552Huloet, Prycke, a fyshers instrumente. Loke in Trowte speare. c1590Greene Fr. Bacon xi. 62 I'll set a prick against my breast. 1837Civil Eng. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 33/2 The backs are to be scappled with a prick. 1859Kansas Hist. Coll. (1896) V. 581 Ordnance stores this day turned over to Samuel Medary... 100 cap pouches and pricks, worn. 1882Day Fishes Gt. Brit. II. 246 The prick is constructed of four broad serrated blades or tines spread out like a fan, and the eel becomes wedged between them.
†16. An upright tapering spike, spire, or similar object. Applied among other things to:
The upright pole of a tent; the spike on which a candle was fixed (see pricket 2); the spike of a prick-measure (see 21); an iron spike set on a building; a spire; a pinnacle; a pointed top of a rock or mountain, an ‘aiguille’ or ‘needle’; the first ‘head’ of a deer. Obs.
1497Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 99 Pavilion of xvj and a prik. c1530in Gutch Coll. Cur. II. 339 Twoo Aulter Candilstickes parcell gilte with prickes. 1563Winȝet Wks. (S.T.S.) II. 66 Than the deuil tuke him..and set him aboue the prik of the temple. 1587Sc. Acts Jas. VI (1814) III. 522/1 Þt þair be a prik of Irne..Ryssing vpricht out of þe centrie or middis of þe bottom of þe firlot and passing throw þe middis of þe said ovir corss bar. c1600in A. Maxwell Hist. Old Dundee (1884) 150 [To erect] ane sufficient prick of fine ashler wark weill hewn, rising with aucht square panes like the old foundation of the wark, in hicht..eleven foots. 1604E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies v. xxv. 400 High and stiep rockes, which have prickes or poynts on them, above two hundred fadome high. 1650[? Sanderson] Aulicus Coquin. 34 His head to be set upon a prick of Iron upon the highest part of the Talboth. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Prick, the first Head of a Fallow Deer.
17. a. The penis. coarse slang.
1592R. D. Hypnerotomachia 42 b, The pissing Boye lift up his pricke. 1598Florio s.v. Pisciaruola. 1599 Minsheu Sp. Dict. s.v. Pica de niño. 1655 Moufet & Bennet Health's Impr. (1746) 267 The Frenchmen call this Fish the Ass's Prick, and Dr. Wotton termeth it grosly the Pintle⁓fish. 1680Rochester Poems 14 But though St. James has the honor on't, 'Tis consecrate to Prick and Cunt. 1683Snape Anat. Horse iii. v. (1686) 114 It [glandula pinealis] is also called the Yard or Prick of the Brain. 1744,1763[see bollock 1]. 1896A. Beardsley Let. c 3 Dec. (1970) 223 Yes everything is phallic shaped except Symons's prick. 1922Joyce Ulysses 424 Trinity medicals... All prick and no pence. 1965W. Young Eros Denied xiv. 132 You know, the young men's pricks seem to be getting bigger and bigger. It must be the Welfare State. 1971‘A. Burgess’ MF iii. 39 His nakedness and limp prick..were now properties of the changing room. 1976‘E. McBain’ Guns (1977) ii. 38 Jocko had..a very small pecker... Blood on the bulging pectorals, tiny contradictory prick.
†b. As a vulgar term of endearment. Obs.
1540[see princock]. 1671H. M. Erasm. Colloq. 547 One word alone hath troubled some, because the immodest maid soothing the young man, calls him her Prick... He who cannot away with this, instead of ‘my Prick’, let him write ‘my Sweetheart’.
c. As a vulgar term of abuse for a man.
1929Amer. Speech IV. 343 Prick, one in authority who is abusive or unjust. 1934H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 110 Jesus, what I'd like is to find some rich cunt—like that cute little prick, Carl. 1935J. T. Farrell Guillotine Party 193 That's what I think of you, Merton..you're a p{ddd}k! 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 659/1 Prick... An offensive or contemptuous term (applied to men only). 1961P. Kemp Alms for Oblivion ii. 40 Winn drafted a bitter reply, concluding with the cri-de-coeur: ‘Uncomplaining gravest difficulties here but how long oh how long must we continue to kick against the pricks in your office.’ 1967‘E. Trevor’ Freebooters xi. 124 We don't like bein' pushed around by an incompetent prick of a commanding officer. 1971B. W. Aldiss Soldier Erect 52 Don't you call me a cunt, you Midland prick, you, or I'll sort you out! 1973J. Wainwright Devil you Don't 25 John Smith said: ‘Some men have big pricks.’ ‘Some men are big pricks.’ 1978M. Puzo Fools Die xi. 115 They have good jobs, big futures. And the pricks won't even do their service.
18. A small roll (of tobacco).
1666J. Davies Hist. Caribby Isles 190 The place design'd for making of it [tobacco] up into rolls or pricks. 1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4054/6 Lots..Cont. 4000 Pricks of Tobacco. 1888Clark Russell Death Ship II. 88, I had the remains of what sailors term a prick of tobacco in my pocket. 1975B. Meyrick Behind Light iv. 57 Normally Pa had thirty or so good leaves left to make rolled ‘pricks’ as a change from pressing into wads. Ibid., Soon our back pantry was full of thick hanging ‘pricks’ of twisted and rolled tobacco. 1977Navy News Feb. 6/6 The hair on the nape of the neck was bound in yarns..and called a perique. In my days we rolled leaf tobacco in a similar way and called the result a ‘prick’, just modern spelling of an old word.
VI.
19. a. The act of pricking, or the fact of being pricked; a puncture. (The chief extant sense.) Also fig., esp. in phrase prick of conscience, stinging or tormenting reflection or compunction, remorse; in earlier use, that which pricks the conscience or causes compunction: see 12 c.
13..Hampole's Pr. Consc. (Yates MS.), Here bigynneþ þ e boke whiche is iclepid þe Prick of Conscience. c1425Castell Persev. 1858 in Macro Plays 129 It puttyth a man to pouerte, & pullyth hym to peynys prycke. a1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 53 b, This was no dreame, but a punccion and pricke of hys synfull conscience. 1599Shakes. Hen. V, ii. i. 36 Gentlewomen that liue honestly by the pricke of their Needles. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. i. 171 Captain Minchin..was like to lose his hand by a prick with a Catfishes Fin. 1867Smiles Huguenots Eng. ix. (1880) 513 Every prick of conscience was succeeded by new resolutions to extirpate heresy. 1884tr. Lotze's Metaph. 504 A stimulus, strictly limited in its local extent—say the prick of a needle.
†b. The act of ‘pricking the card’ or marking a ship's position on the chart: see prick v. 16.
c1595Capt. Wyatt R. Dudley's Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.) 21 Wee shall.., if God prosper our proceedings, see land such a daie by the prick of this my carde.
†20. Alliterative phrase, prick and praise (also prise, price, prize): the praise of excellence or success; success and its acknowledgement: perh. connected with prick v. 15, or ? with the use in archery: see sense 10. Obs.
a1500H. Medwall Nature (Brandl) ii. 324 Now forsoth I gyue the pryk and pryse, Thou art worth the weyght of gold. 1565–73Cooper Thesaurus, Primas deferre alicui, to giue to one the chiefe praise; to attribute most vnto one; to giue him the pricke and price. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 6/2 In these seruices, as in all other, Robert of Barrie, and Meilerius had the pricke and praise. c1589Whip for Ape in Lyly's Wks. (1902) III. 419 For knaue and foole thou maist beare pricke and price. 1600Holland Livy ix. xvi. 324 For in running..he had not his peere, but went away with pricke and prise before all other in those daies. 1657Thornley tr. Longus' Daphnis & Chloe 49 The women gave him prick and praise for beauty. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, The Prick and Praise of our Town, that bears the Bell..in all Exercises, as Wrestling, Running,..&c.
VII. 21. attrib. and Comb., as prick-point, prick-spot, prick-thorn; prick-protected adj.; † prick-arrow = prick-shaft; † prick-candlestick = pricket 2; † prick-cast, ? = prickshot; prick-farrier Services' slang, a medical officer; † prick-grass, a prickly weed, petty-whin; † prickhead: see quot.; prick-hedge, a thorn hedge; prick-line, a dotted line; prick-lugged a., prick-eared; † prick measure, prick-met Sc., a measure for grain, having an iron rod of stated length rising erect from the centre of the bottom: see sense 16; † prick-pear = prickle-pear, prickly pear; † prick-penny, some kind of trick at dice; prick punch: see quots.; prick-shooting, shooting at the ‘prick’ or target; prickshot, a shot at the ‘prick’ or target; hence, the distance at which this was usually practised: cf. bowshot; prick-spur, a spur having a single point; also used as a heraldic charge; prick-stitch (see quots.); so prick-stitch v. trans. and intr., prick-stitching vbl. n.; prick-sucker coarse slang, a fellator or fellatrix; † prick-tackle, ? tackle for catching fish with a ‘prick’: see sense 15; prick-teaser coarse slang = cock-teaser (cock n.1 23); also prick-tease n.; hence (as back-formations) prick-teased, prick-teasing ppl. adjs.; prick-tobacco, tobacco made up into a small roll: see sense 18; † prick-wand: see quot. 1765; prick-wheel, a toothed wheel mounted on a handle, used by saddlers for marking places for stitches at regular intervals; also = pattern-wheel. See also prick-eared a., prick-song, etc.
1547in Meyrick Anc. Armour (1824) III. 10 Quyver for *pricke arrows for crosse-bowes. 1610Boys Expos. Domin. Epist. & Gosp. Wks. (1622) 170 Her prick-arrowes, as the shafts of Jonathan forwarne David of the great kings displeasure.
1566in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 50 Item ij *pricke candlestickes—broken and sold to george nyxe. 1578in Feuillerat Revels Q. Eliz. (1908) 300 Pricke Candlestickes vi.
1580Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong, Vn coup d'estoc, a *pricke cast. 1611Cotgr., Coup d'estoc, a thrust, foine, stockado, stab; also, a prick-cast.
1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1232/1 *Prick(-)farrier, a medical officer: R.A.F. regulars': since ca. 1928. 1971S. Kerry Doctor's Cabin iv. 48 ‘Meet Doc Kerry, our prick farrier.’ They both laughed. ‘No offence meant,’ said Johnny. ‘It's just a vulgar Naval term for a surgeon.’
1616Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme iv. iv. 498 If the gound haue beene much subiect to small whynnes or *prick-grasse, which is a most venimous weed in anie ground.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 76/1 *Prickhead, is the first head of a Fallow Deer.
1601Holland Pliny I. 510 This was at first practised with foot sets for a *prick-hedge, namely by pitching down into the earth Elder, Quince-cuttings and brambles. 1611Nottingham Rec. IV. 302 He to sett a prick hedge betwixt the chappell and the dwelling howse. 1854A. E. Baker Northampt. Gloss., Prick-hedge.., a dry hedge of thorns, set to protect a newly planted fence.
1653R. Sanders Physiogn. 262 The *prick lines poynt to the back part of the body. 1700Moxon Mech. Exerc. (1703) 261 The black Lines shew a stretching course, and the Prick-Lines an Heading course.
1847–78Halliwell, *Prick-lugged, having erect ears.
1641Sc. Acts Chas. I (1817) V. 425/1 Thay ar chairgit to ressave þe *prick measure, conforme to þe act of Parliament.
1647Rec. Elgin (New Spald. Cl. 1903) I. 182 For the lend of the *prick mett of Elgin.
1622R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 87 One other fruit we found..compassed about with prickles; our people called them *pricke-pears.
1662J. Wilson Cheats iv. i. (1664) 46 Did not I (..) teach you, your Top, your Palm, and your Slur?.. And generally, instructed you from *Prick-penny, to Long Lawrence?
1894Outing (U.S.) XXIV. 22/1 Place one point on the prick spot on the staff, and prick the board for the plank with the other point... Remove the staff, bend a batten to the *prick-points on the plank.
1905Longm. Mag. July 272 The birds resort to its *prick-protected shade.
1677Moxon Mech. Exerc. No. 2. 28 A *Prick-punch, is a piece of temper'd Steel with a round point at one end, to prick a round mark in Cold iron. 1683Ibid., Printing xi. ⁋1 Make a small mark with a fine Prick-Punch. 1921Daily Colonist (Victoria, B.C.) 2 Oct. 26/5 A chalk mark is good, but a prick punch makes a mark that will not rub out.
1801T. Roberts Eng. Bowman 241 Of *Prick-shooting..the marks used in this kind of shooting have..consisted either of a small circular piece of white paper, fixed to a post..; or of a target. 1887W. Butt Ford's Archery (rev. ed.) 138 This prick-shooting next became known as the paper-game.
1548Patten Exped. Scotl. E iij b, The tentes..were deuided in to iiii. seuerall orders and rewes liynge east & west and a *prikshot a sunder.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 325/1 *Prick Spur, with a Nail or sharp point. 1824Meyrick Anc. Armour I. 12 The..spike of the pryck⁓spur. 1839Knight Pict. Shaks., John 10 The spur worn [temp. K. John] was the goad or pryck spur, without a rowel. 1868Cussans Her. (1882) 122 Spur..may either be..with a revolving rowel, or with a single point. The latter is the most ancient, and is known as the Pryck-spur.
1924W. D. F. Vincent et al. Cutters' Pract. Guide Body Coats 62/1 Hunting Coats are generally finished with plain seams, and have the front edges seamed and *prick-stitched. 1928A. S. Bridgland Mod. Tailor II. xviii. 242 Prick-stitch.—This stitch is employed to give either strength or appearance, and consists in alternately passing the needle straight up and down through the material, the stitch itself being either a back or a side-stitch. 1933J. E. Liberty Pract. Tailoring iii. 18 Prick-stitch. This is exactly similar to side-stitch but is made by two actions, one upward, the other downward, the stitch actually being pricked alternately through the material which would be too thick for side-stitching. Ibid. v. 54 Prick back over the felling and along the seam for not quite 1/4 in., then prickstitch parallel to the felling up to the top of the welt and to the same width. Ibid. vii. 100 To obtain the desired result, it will need to be prick stitched. 1955― Ibid. (ed. 2) v. 56 The usual D tack, with a little addition of a short row of prickstitching midway between the flap seam and the top edge of the jetting. 1964McCall's Sewing xiii. 239/2 Prick stitching. Take short half-back-stitches in which only two or three threads of the fabric are picked up. Pull each stitch tight. 1968J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 83 Glove-stitch, also known as ‘prick’ stitch. Stitch used for hand glove-making and sometimes for sewing very heavy materials and leather. The thread is taken through one layer of material and then the other.
1868Index Expurgatorius of Martial 21 Cotilus, the *prick-sucker,..is shown to be the filthiest of men. 1974New Direction IV. iv. 5/4 From then onward she became an ardent prick-sucker.
1464Mann. & Househ. Exp. (Roxb.) 250 To Robart Clerke for a *pryke⁓takylle for my mastyr, and for botehyre, iij.d.
1977E. J. Trimmer et al. Visual Dict. Sex (1978) ii. 31 A girl who works her way through several partners without actually having intercourse will become known as a ‘*prick-tease’.
1975D. Durrant With my Little Eye viii. 74 *Prick-teased boys had up for rape.
1961Partridge Dict. Slang Suppl. 1232/1 *Prick-teaser, a late C. 19–20 variant of cock-teaser. 1971R. Busby Deadlock i. 8 He laughed..and pulled her roughly across the seat. ‘A prick teaser, are we?’ 1978F. Norman Dead Butler Caper v. 32 That Gloria's a right prick teaser. She'll con 'im somethin' rotten.
1967‘P. Loraine’ W.I.L. One to Curtis i. 16, I supplied..an empty house..for whatever *prick-teasing kind of a party they wanted to throw. 1972J. Mann Mrs. Knox's Profession iv. 24 He shouted after her: ‘Prick-teasing bitch.’
956in Birch Cart. Sax. III. 123 Andlang fura on *pric þorn.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. xxii. (Roxb.) 274/1 *Prick tobacco, thick roll all made vp together without any wreathing.
a1650Guye of Gisborne 126 in Furniv. Percy Folio II. 233 Robin hoode shott it better then hee, for he cloue the good *pricke wande. 1765Percy Reliques I. Gloss., Pricke⁓wand, a wand set up for a mark.
1875Knight Dict. Mech., *Prick-wheel (Saddlery), a tool used to prick off the work for the harness-stitcher.
▸ a spare prick (at a wedding) n. Brit. coarse slang a person who is conspicuously (esp. embarrassingly) out of place in a particular situation; someone idle, ineffectual, or superfluous.
1961Partridge Dict. Slang 1232/1 Prick, (standing about) like a (spare), useless, unwanted, idle; esp. with a hint of superfluity or of embarrassment. 1980D. Bogarde Gentle Occup. v. 134 Don't stand there like a spare prick at a wedding. 1982New Society 4 Nov. 205/1 Wherever we went, I continued to stand out like a spare prick. 1990P. Silverton I was Teenage Sex Pistol (BNC) 17 When I first started there I really felt like the proverbial spare prick at a wedding. 1994I. Welsh Acid House 79 Doon at the flats it's really fuckin boggin. Thir's a polisman standin aroond like a spare prick. 1998Independent 1 Apr. i. 6/6, I just felt like a spare prick at a wedding and just carried on driving.
▪ II. prick, v.|prɪk|
Forms: see A. below.
[Late OE. prician, pa. tense *pricode, ME. prikie(n, prīke, pa. tense prikede: cognate with OE. prica, prick n. Cf. Icel. prika (1394) to stab slightly, Norw. prika (preeka); also MLG., LG., EFris., Du. prikken, MDu. prikken, pricken, WFris. prykje, Wang. prikje, NFris. pricken; also Da. prikke, Sw. pricka, Norw. prikka (from LG.), all pointing to WGer. doublet forms *prikôjan and *prikkôjan. Cf. also pritch v., representing an OE. *pricc(e)an (found in apriccan):—WGer. *prikjan.
Like the n., the verb appears to belong peculiarly to the Low German domain, being evidenced first in OE., and next in MLG.; it was prob. in OLG., OFris., and ODu. From LG. it seems to have passed into Scandinavian. Perh. from an onomatopœic root prik, expressing the action and sound of piercing abruptly stopped. In the later prikke, pricke, the kk, ck was perh. merely graphic, to show the short vowel. The form prēke appears to be a northern development of prĭcian; but the 14–15th c. prīke, pryke point to an OE. prīcian; cf. WFris. prykje = prīkje. But cf. also pīke, pyke as parallel form of pik, pikk, pick v. and n.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
(α) 1 prician; 2–4 prikie(n, (4 prykie, -kye); 2–5 prike, 4–5 pryke; (5 pres. pple. pricande).
c1000Prician [see B. 1]. c1000ælfric Gram. xxviii. (Z.) 174 Pungo, ic priciᵹe. ― Priciað [see B. 4]. a1050Liber Scintill. lxi. (1889) 188 Priciᵹende eaᵹe utᵹelæt tearas & se þe pricaþ heortan. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 205 Þornene helm..him swiþe prikede. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9415 Þat hor fon toward hom ne come prikie vaste. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 899 Þe douke come prikiand on his stede. c1386Chaucer Friar's T. 296 So priketh [v.rr. prykyth, prickeþ] it in my side. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) IV. 211 He was i-priked & i-dryve in idel. Ibid. VII. 35 Þanne he gan to pryke his hors. Ibid. VIII. 251 He hadde leve..to prike a coursere. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. v. 24 Thenne conscience on hus capel comsed to prykie [v. r. prike]. c1400Sowdone Bab. 42 Whan kynde corage begynneth to pryke [rime like]. Ibid. 1383 He priked forth. c1400Laud Troy Bk. 6631 Theseus..come thedur pricande sone. c1440Jacob's Well 154 Whanne on pryketh an-oþer. c1440Prike [see B. 19]. 1483Cath. Angl. 291/2 To Pryke.
(β) 4–5 prik, pryk; 4 prikke, 5 prykkyn; 4–7 pricke (5–6 prycke(-n)); 6– prick.
13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2049 Hym lyst prik for poynt. c1325Poem Times Edw. II (Percy Soc.) 7 He pricket out on hys contre. c1375Sc. Leg. Saints iv. 299 He gert fele knychtis..pryk efter þame. 1402Hoccleve Lett. Cupid 106 Now prikke on fast. c1470Henryson Mor. Fab. iv. (Fox's Conf.) xxii, The fox he prikkit fast vnto the eird. c1470Gol. & Gaw. 539 To..prik in your presence, to purchese his pray. c1490Promp. Parv. 413/1 (MS. H.) Prykkyn, or poynten, puncto. 1530Palsgr. 432/2 This fellowe can bothe flatter and pricke. 1552Huloet, Prycken, agito,..stimulo,..Prycke wrytynges wyth a penne,..dispungo. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 164 His prouender prickth him. 1579Gosson Sch. Abuse, To Gentlew. (Arb.) 58 Wanton wil begins to prick. 1597Morley Introd. Must. 28 As they are commonly prickt now. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 103 He did pricke on the other.
(γ) 4–6 prek(e; 5–6 preik, 6 preak; 8–9 (dial.) preek.
c1375Sc. Leg. Saints v. (Johannes) 430 [He] come prekand in sic degre. 1375Barbour Bruce (MS. 1487) xvi. 615 Prek we apon thame hardely. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) VIII. 287 Slow hym so wiþ prekynge and wiþ hunger. c1400Melayne 999 Prekande one a stede. a1400–50Alexander 3483 A powere of þe Persens..On kyng Porrus to preke. c1475Rauf Coilȝear 410 Out of Paris proudly he preikit. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 362 Thair preikand on the plane. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 86 To provok gready and imprudent men to preak at thame. 1825Jamieson, Preek. 1894[see B. 20].
B. Signification.
I. To pierce, or indent with a sharp point.
1. a. trans. To pierce slightly, make a minute hole in (a surface or body) with a fine or sharp point; to puncture; hence, to wound (or hurt) with or as with a pointed instrument or weapon; in Shooting, to wound or disable (a game bird) by shooting: pricked ppl. a. 1 c. Said also of the instrument. Also fig.
c1000ælfric Hom. (Th.) II. 312 He..het..ðæs papan lima ᵹelome prician, oðþæt he swulte ðurh swylcum pinungum. c1200[see A. α]. 1382Wyclif Rev. i. 7 Thei that pungeden [gloss or prickeden] him. 1426Lydg. De Guil. Pilgr. 14165 Lyk a bladdere..Pryke yt with a poynt, a-noon, And ffarwel, al the wynd ys gon. c1440Alphabet of Tales 446 Þai myght not be wakynd with no maner of criyng, nor þai myght fele nothyng sore and þai had bene nevur so prykkid. 1530Palsgr. 666/1, I pricke with a sharpe nedell, or pynne, or thorne. 1621Quarles Esther Div. Poems (1717) 45 A bubble full of care, Which (prickt by death) straight enters into Air. 1626Bacon Sylva §326 Take an Apple, &c. and pricke it with a Pinne full of Holes, not deepe. 1667Pepys Diary 18 Aug., I could perceive her to take pins out of her pocket to prick me. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. iii. 86/1 Prick the Loafe, is to make little holes on the top of the Loafe with a Bodkin. 1789Brand Hist. Newcastle II. 679 By the wetness of the rods they [the borers] know when any feeder of water is pricked. 1888Lady D. Hardy Dang. Exper. II. v. 66 A tall thin church spire pricked the skies. 1900‘Blagdon’ Shooting 89 Too often, when cover is deficient and birds are consequently difficult to approach, there is a tendency to take long shots at birds which are really beyond sporting range, with the result that a large number of birds are ‘pricked’, or slightly wounded, without being brought to bag. 1916Shooting Don'ts 39 Don't ‘brown’ into a covey. To be continually killing more than one bird at a shot will make you suspected. It results in a waste of birds, on account of the number that get ‘pricked’, and die.
b. To make (a hole or mark) by pricking.
[a1023Wulfstan Hom. xxx. 146 Þonne man ænne prican apricce on anum bradum brede.] 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. No. 12. 214 Prick there an Hole for a mark. Mod. Prick a hole in it with a pin.
c. Farriery. To pierce the foot of (a horse) to the quick in shoeing, causing lameness.
1591Florio 2nd Fruites 35, I will goe hyre a horse, for mine was so prickt yesterdaie, that he can not goe. 1592Greene Blacke Booke's Messenger Wks. (Grosart) XI. 19 His horse..halted right downe:..I wondred at it, and thought he was prickt. 1622Fletcher & Mass. Span. Curate iii. ii, You shall have the tenth horse I prick, to pray for. 1725Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Prickt, By the negligence or unskilfulness of the farrier they are prick'd in driving the nails. 1831Youatt Horse 304 No one who considers the thinness of the crust..will blame him [the smith] for sometimes pricking the horse.
d. To detect (a witch) by pricking her skin until a spot was discovered which did not bleed. Hist.
[Cf.1627R. Bernard Guide Grand Jurymen xviii. 219 This [witches' mark] is insensible, and being pricked will not bleede. ]1661in Pitcairn Crim. Trials III. 602 The Magistrat and Minister caused Johne Kinkaid, the comon pricker, to prik hir, and found tuo marks upon hir, which he called the Devill his markis. [Cf. quot. 1895 in 4 b.]
e. To affect with a sensation as of pricking.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxxviii. (Bodl. MS.), Ȝif it [evil meat or drink] piccheþ and prickeþ þe stommake, it is yp[i]chched and ipricked and compelleþ it to passe oute. Mod. colloq. I don't like soda-water; it pricks my mouth.
f. To convert by puncturing into something.
1830Tennyson Talking Oak 69, I swear (and else may insects prick Each leaf into a gall).
2. fig. To cause sharp mental pain to; to sting with sorrow or remorse; to grieve, pain, torment, vex. Also absol.
a1050Liber Scintill. xvi. (1889) 79 He nys ᵹepricud [stimulatus] on unrotnysse gyltes. a1340Hampole Psalter iv. 5 If þai pryk vs in forthynkynge of oure synne. a1400–50Alexander 2628 Þe pite of þe Persens him prickis in his saule. 1530Palsgr. 666/1 As any displeasure pricketh one at the herte. 1694F. Bragge Disc. Parables xiii. 445 Let those who find themselves pricked by what is now said take care that their religion be more pure. 1874L. Stephen Hours in Library (1892) I. i. 15 His conscience pricks him so much that he cannot rest.
†3. To sting or bite, as a serpent, an insect, or the like. Also absol. Obs.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 191 Neddre..attreð hwat heo prikeð. 1484Caxton Fables of æsop iv. iii, The scorpion..prycketh sore with his taylle. 1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 260 There are always swarms of them [insects] buzzing about People, and continually pricking of them.
4. a. intr. To perform the action of pricking or piercing; to cause a pricking sensation; also, to have the quality of pricking, to be prickly or sharp.
c1000ælfric Hom. (Th.) II. 88 Ðornas priciað. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 207 Þe þornes swiðe prikeden. c1386Chaucer Merch. T. 391 Thanne is..no thyng may me displese Saue o thyng priketh in my conscience. 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 77 It pricketh betymes that will be a good thorne. 1625Bacon Ess., Revenge (Arb.) 502 It is but like the Thorn, or Bryar, which prick, and scratch, because they can doe no other. 1872Tennyson Gareth & Lynette 191 At times the spires and turrets half-way down Prick'd thro' the mist. Mod. Give me something to prick with. The leaves are acute, but they do not prick.
b. In various pregnant uses and phrases.
to prick for, to try, choose, or decide for something by pricking (cf. sense 15); also fig. to prick for a soft plank (Naut.): see quot. 1867. † to prick for witches, to prick suspected persons with a pin, to find out, by their sensibility or insensibility to the pain, whether they were witches; cf. 1 d. to prick (in) the belt, garter, loop, to play at fast-and-loose; cf. garter n. 7, loop n.1 1. † to prick in (on, upon) a clout, to do needlework, to sew. See also phraseological derivatives below.
1584Lyly Campaspe v. iv, The one pricking in cloutes haue nothing els to thinke on. 1594― Moth. Bomb. i. iii, My daughter..shall prick on a clout till her fingers ake. 1615Crooke Body of Man 274 Women..liue an idle and sedentarie life, pricking for the most part vppon a clout. 1758Goldsm. Mem. Protestant (1895) II. 229 Players at Slight of Hand; others who invite the ignorant to prick in the Belt. 1828Times 23 Aug., [A grave-digger] so well acquainted with the ground, crowded as it was, that he could prick for room in little or no time. 1836Disraeli Runnymede Lett. (1885) 176 To arrange a whitebait dinner at Blackwall, or prick for an excursion to Richmond or Beulah Spa. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Pricking for a soft plank, selecting a place on the deck for sleeping upon. 1895J. Chamberlain Sp. Ho. Comm. 14 May, There were witch-finders in the Middle Ages who pricked for witches.
5. a. intr. To thrust at something as if to pierce it, to make a thrust or stab at. Also fig.
c1470Henry Wallace vi. 473 Sum brak a pott, sum pyrlit [v.r. prikkit] at his E. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 257 Who can doubt any longer, but that you pricke at relygion? 1837Carlyle Fr. Rev. III. ii. i, Thus Marat..is, as the Debate goes on, prickt at again by some dextrous Girondin. 1863Mrs. Oliphant Chron. Carl., Salem Ch. xv. 255 All his own duties pricked at his heart with bitter reminders in that moment.
†b. Archery. To shoot at a ‘prick’ or target; hence fig. to aim at. Obs.
1545R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 106 This prayse belongeth to stronge shootinge and drawinge of mightye bowes, not to prickinge, and nere shootinge. c1555Harpsfield Divorce Hen. VIII (Camden) 94 His authors..roved far from the mark they should prick at. 1622Drayton Poly-olb. xxvi. 331 With Broad-arrow, or But, or Prick, or Rouing Shaft, At Markes full fortie score, they vs'd to Prick, and Roue.
6. a. intr. or absol. Of a hare: To make a track in running.
c1410, etc. [see pricking vbl. n. 2]. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. ii. v. 937 By that I knewe that they had the hare,..and by and by I might see him sore and resore, prick and reprick. 1632J. Guillim Heraldry iii. xiv (ed. 2) 176 For when she [a hare]..Beateth the plaine high-waie where you may yet perceiue her footing, it is said she..Pricketh. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Pricketh, the Footing of a Hare on the hard Highway, when it can be perceived.
b. trans. To look for or find the ‘pricks’ of (a hare); to trace or track (a hare) by its footprints. Also absol. or intr.
c1386, etc. [see pricking vbl. n. 2]. a1673J. Caryl in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. xvii. 11 Hunters, who go poring upon the ground to prick the hare, or to find the print of the hare's claw. 1678Dryden Limberham iv. i, You have been pricking up and down here upon a cold scent. 1756Connoisseur No. 105 ⁋7 We were often delayed by trying if we could prick a hare. 1828Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Prick, to trace a hare by its footsteps. 1886Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., To examine the mud in a gate⁓way or road to see if a hare has passed, is to ‘prick the hare’.
7. intr. To have a sensation of being pricked; to tingle.
1850Tennyson In Mem. l, When the blood creeps, and the nerves prick And tingle. 1868Browning Ring & Bk. iii. 55 Her palsied limb 'gan prick and promise life At touch o' the bedclothes merely.
8. intr. Of wine, beer, etc.: To become or begin to be sour; to be touched or tainted with acetous fermentation; to be just ‘turned’: = F. se piquer. Cf. pricked ppl. a. 2.
1594Plat Jewell-ho. iii. 66 If they [wines] pricke a little they haue a decoction of honie. 1651Howell Venice 30 By reason of the over delicatnes therof it cannot brook the Sea any long time, but it will prick. 1703Art & Myst. Vintners 67 Draw half your Wine into another Butt; then take your Lags of all sorts that do not prick, and so much Syrup as will not prick.
II. To urge with a sharp point or spur.
9. trans. To urge forward (a beast) with a goad (obs.); to spur (a horse) (arch.).
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 61/249 An Asse..is..I-priked and i-scourget. 13..Sir Beues (A.) 229 Þo prikede is stede sire Gii. a1485Promp. Parv. 413/2 (MS.S.) Prikkyn, or punchyn, as men doþ beestis, pungo. 1530Palsgr. 666/1, I pricke an oxe, or any other beest with a gade. 1600Holland Livy ix. xxvii. 334 The Romane horsemen pricked and gallopped their horses to flanke them. 1737[S. Berington] G. di Lucca's Mem. (1738) 76 Short Goads to prick on their Dromedaries. 1753Chambers Cycl. Supp., Prick, or Pinch, in the manege, is to give a horse a gentle touch of the spur, without clapping them hard to him. 1893Baring-Gould Cheap-Jack Z. I. vii. 102 He pricked his horse on, but she held to the bridle and arrested it.
10. fig.
a. To drive or urge as with a spur; to impel, instigate, incite, stimulate, provoke. arch.
a1225–1340 [see pricking vbl. n. 4]. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1192 (Dido) So prikyth hire this newe iolye wo. c1386― Prol. 11 So priketh hem nature in hir corages. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 59 b, Now prycked or stered by the consyderacion of his feruent loue. 1568Jacob & Esau v. iv. in Hazl. Dodsley II. 251 Well, nature pricketh me some remorse on thee to have. 1609Holland Amm. Marcell. xiv. i. 2 The Queene ever at his elbow to pricke and proke him forward. 1675tr. Camden's Hist. Eliz. iv. (1688) 622 His perverse Obstinacy..did so prick her forward to use Severity. 1868Lowell Willows Poet. Wks. (1879) 375 Pricked on by knightly spur of female eyes. 1871R. Ellis Catullus lxiii. 76 Let a fury, a frenzy prick him to return to the wood again.
†b. Phr. provender pricks (a horse, etc.): abundance of food stimulates and makes high-spirited.
(Cf. Ger. der hafer sticht ihn in similar use.)
1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 27 When prouander prickt them a little tyne. 1550Crowley Way to Wealth B ij b, The paisant knaues be to welthy, prouender pricketh them. 1658T. Wall God's Revenge agst. Enemies Ch. 58 Profit pricks forward zeal, as provender does the Ass. a1688Bunyan Exp. Gen. Wks. 1861 II. 494/1 When provender pricks us, we are apt to be as the horse or mule, that is without understanding.
11. a. intr. To spur or urge a horse on; to ride fast; hence, to ride, advance on horseback. arch.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 415/423 Wel i-Armed þe maister cam prikie and ride fast. 1340–70Alisaunder 382 Þei putt þem in perril & prikeden aboute. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 164 Soþnesse..prikede on his palfrey and passede hem alle. c1400Mandeville (1839) xxiii. 249 Als wel on hors bak, prikynge, as on fote rennynge. 1470–85Malory Arthur xiv. v. 647 Anone the yoman came pryckynge after as fast as euer he myghte. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. i. 1 A gentle Knight was pricking on the plaine. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 536 Before each Van Pric forth the Aerie Knights, and couch thir spears. 1808Scott Marm. i. xix, For here be some have pricked as far On Scottish ground as to Dunbar. 1884J. Payne Tales fr. Arabic I. 283 Presently, I espied a horse⁓man pricking after me.
†b. intr. Also said of a horse; and in allit. phr. to prick and prance, of either rider or horse. Obs.
1390Gower Conf. III. 41 Wherof this man was wonder glad, And goth to prike and prance aboute. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iv. 878 So thewed that..Anoon they [foals] may be stered forto prike. c1440Lydg. Hors, Shepe, & G. 344 The Goos may gagle, the hors may prike & praunce. c1441Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 208 Now I lyste nother to pryke nor praunce; My pryde ys put to poverté. 1590Nashe Pasquil's Apol. i. E j b, I trust they shall see me pricke it, and praunce it, like a Caualiero.
†12. to prick fast upon, to approach closely (a time or age); to prick near, to approach closely in attainment or quality. Cf. prick n. 2 b, 9.
1565T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 15 b, Euer sence the faith hath ben knowen and preached.., which pricketh nowe fast vpon a thousand yeares. a1566R. Edwards Damon & Pithias in Hazl. Dodsley IV. 92 It pricketh fast upon noon. 1580Golding in Baret Alv. To Rdr. xii, It would pricke neere the learned tungs in strength. 1586J. Hooker Hist. Irel. in Holinshed II. 88/1 You may growe to..that hoary winter, on which you see me your father fast pricking.
III. To mark by or with pricks or dots.
13. a. trans. To write or set down (music) by means of ‘pricks’ or notes (arch.); also, to write music in (a book) (obs.). Also absol. or intr.
c1325Song Deo Gratias 6 in E.E. Poems (1862) 124, I seiȝ a clerk a boke forthe brynge, Þat prikked was in Mony a plas, Fast he souht what he schulde synge. 1463,c1520, etc. [see pricked ppl. a. 3, pricking vbl. n. 6]. 1549Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden) 39 For paper to pryk songes in for the churche..ijd. 1598Dallington Meth. Trav. V ij b, The Italian hath a prouerbe:..The French neither pronounce as they write, nor sing as they pricke, nor thinke as they speake. 1623Cheque Bk. Chapel Royal (Camden) 58 For pricking of a sett of bookes..iij li. iij s...for pricking in the bookes iij li. xij s. 1668Pepys Diary 24 Mar., To my chamber, to prick out my song ‘It is Decreed’. 1765Wesley Wks. (1872) XIV. 330 They [tunes] are pricked true, exactly as I desire all our congregations may sing them. 1826Scott Woodst. iii, A book having some airs pricked down in it.
b. To write out bell-changes in figures, thus: 123, 132, 312, 321, 231, 213, etc.
1843Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. I. i. viii. 178 Who can prick the peal of bells—the bobs and treble bobs?
†14. To write down; to note or jot down; to record in writing. Obs.
c1400Destr. Troy 418 Als put is in poisé and prikkit be Ouyd.
15. To mark or indicate by a ‘prick’; esp. to mark (a name, or an item) in a list by making a ‘prick’ through or against it; hence, to mark off or tick off in this way; spec. (of the sovereign) to select (persons) for the office of sheriff from a list by this means; whence of other appointments; also, to appoint, choose, pick out. Also prick down, prick off, etc.
1557Recorde Whetst. K ij, First I set theim downe and pricke theim, as here doeth appeare 18.76.62.24. . 1577Harrison England ii. iv. (1877) i. 99 The prince..foorthwith pricketh some such one of them..who herevpon is shiriffe of that shire for one whole year. 1599B. Jonson Cynthia's Rev. v. ii, Why did the ladies pricke out mee? I am sure there were other gallants. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 538 Known he is sure, that is pricked down for one of the Judges of the twelve Tribes of Israel. 1788J. Beverley Cerem. Univ. Cambr. 14 Election of the Caput... The Proctors nominate only, unless they prick as Representatives of their Masters. Ibid. 15 Each Person is to prick only one of the three nominated for each Faculty. 1853Jerdan Autobiog. III. vi. 68 My friend was pricked as High Sheriff of the county. 1861Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. vii, What do you think of that fellow..offering..the junior servitor..a bribe of ten pounds to prick him in at chapel when he isn't there? 1907W. Tuckwell Remin. Oxford viii. 107 J. G. Wood..was a Bible clerk of Merton,..who pricked Chapel attendance and said grace.
16. To mark or trace something on (a surface) by pricks or dots; esp. to prick the chart († card, plot): see quots.; also, to mark or trace (a position, direction, design, etc.) on a surface by pricks or dots (in quot. 1665–76, with pegs). Also prick off, prick out.
1598Florio Dict. To Rdr. b j, I was but one..to sit at sterne, to pricke my carde, to watch vpon the vpper decke. 1627Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xv. 73 To learne to..know the tides, your Roomes, pricke your Card, say your Compasse. 1665–76Rea Flora (ed. 2) 5 Prick down a line eight or ten foot long. 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. iv. xv. 196 To find the Latitude, Rhomb, and Longitude, and..to prick the same down in a Blank Chart. 1704J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., To prick the Chart or Plot at Sea, signifies to make a Point in their Chart whereabout the Ship is now. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Pricking her off, marking a ship's position upon a chart by the help of a scale and compasses. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. 95/2 The lights of the eyes..must all be pricked out with a fine needle. 1875T. Seaton Fret Cutting 144 With a very fine steel point prick out lightly the whole pattern.
†17. To insert the points or stops in (a writing, etc.); to punctuate, point. Obs. rare—1.
1637Heylin Answ. to Burton 161 This is the place at large, so pricked and commade..in the said old booke.
IV. To put into some position or condition by piercing or transfixing.
†18. To stick, fix, or impale (anything) on the point of an instrument. Obs.
c1420Anturs of Arth. ix. (Irel. MS.), Opon the chefe of hur cholle, A padok prykette [v.rr. pikes, pykit] on a polle. c1559R. Hall Life Fisher xii. (1655) 211 The head..was pricked upon a pole and set on high upon London Bridge. 16..Childe Maurice xxviii. in Child Ballads iv. (1886) 266/1 Child Maurice head he did cleeue And he pricked itt on his swords poynt. 1615G. Sandys Trav. 27 The cookes, who..slicing it into little gobbets, prick it on a prog of iron, and hang it in a fornace. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xi. ⁋23 They..prick the Oynion fast upon the end of a small long Stick.
†19. To secure or fasten with a pin or skewer, or the like; to pin, skewer. Obs.
c1440York Myst. xiii. 303 Gadir..now all oure gere; Slike poure wede as we were, And prike þam in a pak. c1450Two Cookery-bks. 82 Take a prik, and prik him [stuffed pig] togidur, And lete him roste. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 70 An old hat, and the humor of forty fancies prickt in't for a feather. 1647J. Lawnind Putney Projects 46 To Sit..like so many Plovers pricked down for stales. 1780Forbes Dominie iii. 14 The clout about me shou'd be pricked At the kirk-door. 1819W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd iv. (1827) 133 The warden's trunk-hose to his fecket Wi' gowden corken-priens was pricket.
20. To attire (a person) with clothes and ornaments fastened by pins, bodkins, etc.; to attire elaborately, dress up. Now dial.
c1340[see pricking vbl. n. 7]. 1522World & Child in Hazl. Dodsley I. 244, I am nat worthily wrapped nor went, But poorly pricked in poverty. c1540Heywood Four P.P. ibid. 351 But prick them [women] and pin them as nice as ye will, And yet will they look for pinning still. 1599Massinger, etc. Old Law ii. i, Pricked up in clothes, Why should we fear our rising? 1638R. Brathwait Barnabees Jrnl. i. (1818) 27 On earth she only wished To be painted, pricked, kissed. 1790D. Morison Poems 81 Ne'er price a weardless, wanton elf, That nought but pricks an' prins herself. 1894Northumbld. Gloss., Preek, to adorn. ‘She's a' preeked up wi' ribbons an' laces.’
†21. To remove, or bring into some position, by pricking. Obs.
1573–80Baret Alv. P 706 Oculis punctu erutis, eies pricked out. Ibid. 709 To pricke out crowes eies, configere cornicum oculos. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iv. 66 A small..Gnat, Not halfe so bigge as a round little Worme, Prickt from the Lazie-finger of a man. 1645Harwood Loyal Subj. Retiring-room 3 Please you to observe the comfortable lessons I shall prick out of it. 1683Moxon Mech. Exerc., Printing xvii. ⁋3 If the Matrice be too thin on the right or left side, or both; They prick up that side,..and so raise a Bur upon that side.
22. To plant (seedlings, etc.) in small holes made by piercing the ground at suitable intervals. Const. † forth, in, out, off. Also, to prick in (manure): see quot. 1847.
1627tr. Bacon's Life & Death (1651) 13 A young Slip or Cions..if it be pricked into the Ground. 1664Evelyn Kal. Hort., Mar. (1729) 194 Prick them forth at distances. Ibid., Aug. 215 Prick out your Seedlings. 1712J. James tr. Le Blond's Gardening 179 Make a Hole..at every Foot distance, and throw a Nut or Acorn into it; after which, you fill up the Hole again..; which is called pricking Fruit into the Ground. 1789Ann. Agric. XI. 51 My first parcel [of seeds] was pricked in upon a small garden bed. 1847J. W. Loudon Amateur Gardener 85/2 Rotten hotbed dung is..merely ‘pricked in’, as gardeners term it, that is, incorporated only with the top stratum of the soil. 1851Glenny Handbk. Fl. Gard. 22 The seedlings, when grown enough, may be pricked out into small pots. 1854Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. XV. ii. 408 Cabbage plants are pricked in in March. 1882Garden 21 Jan. 48/3 The most critical time with seedling ferns is when they require pricking off for the first time. 1913J. Weathers Twentieth-Cent. Gardening vii. 67 Annuals sown under glass are first of all ‘pricked out’ into other pots or boxes when large enough to handle. 1935A. G. L. Hellyer Pract. Gardening v. 46 Seeds..should not be very close together unless it is certain that time will be available to ‘prick’ them out. 1952C. E. L. Phillips Small Garden vi. 55 When the youngsters have developed their first pair of true leaves, prick them off into other boxes or pots. 1977‘E. Peters’ Morbid Taste for Bones i. 8 He was content to help Brother Cadfael prick out early lettuces.
23. to prick up (in plastering on laths): to scratch or score the surface of the first coat so as to afford a hold for the next; hence, to lay on the first coat which is afterwards so scored.
1778[see pricking vbl. n. 9]. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 373 Pricking-up is similar to laying, but is used as a preliminary to a more perfect kind of work. Ibid. 392 Pricking-up, in plastering, the first coating of three-coat work upon laths. 1873E. Spon Workshop Rec. Ser. i. 122/1 The wall is first pricked up with a coat of lime and hair.
24. To propel (a punt) by pushing with a pole on the ground under the water; to punt.
1891Daily News 26 May 4/8 A man or woman who cannot run or prick a punt, scull, or handle a Canadian canoe, is regarded as an outsider by his or her friends.
V. To insert or stick as a point.
25. To thrust or stick (a pointed object) into something; to set, fix, or insert by the point; to stick in, on. Also fig. ? Obs.
c1430Two Cookery-bks. 36 Ley .iij. lechys on a dysshe, & on euery leche prycke .iij. Almaundys. c1450Mankind 30 in Macro Plays 2 Pryke not yowur felycytes in thyngis transytorye! c1460Play Sacram. 468 Stage direct., Here shalle y⊇ iiij Jewys pryk yer daggeris in iiij qua[r]ters þus sayng. 1594Sir G. Carey in I. H. Jeayes Catal. Charters Berkeley Castle (1892) 335 The findinge of his picteur framed in wax, with one of his owne heares prict directely in the hart therof. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Passage, So tender that a pinne pricked into it cannot fetch it vp any height. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 245 Observe also, that you prick small Sticks, in manner of a Hedge, cross-wise, athwart all the other by-passages.
26. To stick (something) full of, or set (it) with pointed objects or points; hence, to stud, mark, or dot with something. ? Obs.
1530Palsgr. 666/1, I pricke full of bowes, as we do a place or a horse whan we go a mayeng, je rame. 1584Cogan Haven Health (1636) 141 If it be pricked with cloves it is the better. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 275 Brown hair pricked with gray. 1861L. L. Noble Icebergs 139 Belle Isle, a rocky, blue mass, with a wavy out⁓line, rising from the purple main pricked with icebergs.
VI. To stick up as or in a point.
27. To raise or erect, as the ear of an animal when on the alert or listening; hence, of a person, to prick up one's ears, to become attentive or alert to listen.
1587Turberv. Trag. T. (1837) 200 And prickt his plumes to please his Ladies eyes. a1591H. Smith Wks. (1866–7) I. 207 To put a pedlar's shop upon their backs, and colour their faces, and prick their ruffs, and frizzle their hair. a1626Bacon Ess., Fame (Arb.) 579 She pricks up so many Ears. 1682Bunyan Holy War i, At this the town of Mansoul began to prick up its ears. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 132 The fiery Courser, when he hears..the Shouts of War, Pricks up his Ears. 1826J. W. Croker Diary 26 Oct., I pricked up the ears of curiosity at this exordium. 1858R. S. Surtees Ask Mamma li, The roused hounds prick their ears.
28. a. intr. to prick up, to rise or stand erect with the point directed upward; to point or stick up.
[1610,1614: see pricking ppl. a. 4.]
1657W. Morice Coena quasi κοινή v. 55 The full ear [of corn] hangs the head, when the empty pricks up. 1763J. Clubbe Misc. Tracts, Physiognomy (1770) I. 22 Their heads were both under water, but that the tips of their ears just pricked up above it. 1887Besant The World went xv, His ears..prick up at the sound of a fiddle. 1905Blackw. Mag. Sept. 321/2 The spires of churches are to be seen pricking up through the greenery.
b. to prick out, to come into view as specks or points.
1930R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xx. 305 By two o'clock a few stars had pricked out, tiny candles shaking between the drifting gloom of clouds.
VII. 29. Phraseological derivatives. prick-(in-)the-garter, prick-the-loop, n. phr., one who plays the game of fast-and-loose: see 4 b; also, the game itself; prick-the-clout adj. phr., tailoring. Also pricklouse.
1763Brit. Mag. IV. 548 *Prick in the Garter,..a knave well known By silly rusticks,—when their money's gone; For near his side, to make the cheat go down, Stands his accomplice, like a simple clown, Who pricks, and ev'ry time is sure to win; But if another pricks—he's taken in. a1861R. Rae in W. Hunter Biggar & Ho. Fleming iii. (1867) 37 To prick-the-garter gaed the law. 1886Willock Rosetty Ends xxi. (1887) 154 The money-sellin' dodge, or the three-card trick, or prick-the-garter, or the pea-an'-thummils.
1891R. Ford Thistledown xvi. 313 *Prick-the-loops, wha are sae familiar wi' the hangman's loop that they've turned the idea into business, and set up wi' their garter.
1824Scott Redgauntlet Let. xii, Ye *prick-the-clout loon.
▪ III. prick, a. rare.|prɪk|
Also 5–6 prik.
[Only in reference to ears; app. by resolution of the compound prick-eared.]
Pricked up, erect and pointed.
a1449W. Bower in Fordun's Scotichronicon (1759) II. xiv. xxxi. 376 Wyth prik ȝoukand eeris, as the awsk gleg. 1513Douglas æneis iv. v. 20 Als mony has scho prik wpstandand eris. 1889G. Stables Dog Owners' Kennel Comp. v. §11. 59 The hard-haired Scotch terrier... Ears very small, prick or half prick, but never drop. |