prickingn.
/ˈprɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈprɪkɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action or process of piercing, puncturing, or wounding with, or as with, a pointed instrument or weapon. Frequently (and in earliest use) figurative: the infliction of mental or emotional pain, as grief, distress, sorrow, remorse, regret, etc. Also: an instance of this; a physical, metal, or emotional wounding.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > planting > [noun] > transplanting
prickingOE
transplantation1601
transplanting1608
OE Ælfric Catholic Homilies: 2nd Ser. (Cambr. Gg.3.28) vi. 53 Hi ða sawla toterað mid pricungum mislicra geðohta.
c1225 (?OE) Soul's Addr. to Body (Worcester) (Fragm. F) l. 31 Ic was mid þine prickunge ipin[ed ful] sore.
a1300 in C. Brown Relig. Lyrics 14th Cent. (1924) 3 (MED) Of þe þornes prikung, min hiued urnth a blode.
a1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Bodl. 959) (1961) Lev. xix. 28 Opon þe dede ȝe sholen not kytte ȝoure flesch, ne eny..prikkynges ȝe sholyn make to ȝow.
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 118 (MED) Þei bigan for to arise wiþ dreede fro peyne and fro manyefoold prickynges of tribulaciouns.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 157 Þai bene put vpon bityngez & prickyngez [?c1425 Paris styngynges] & venemous pustulez þat þe venom be drawe out fro þam.
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. PPiiiv Without drede or feare, scrupull or prickyng of conscience.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 2183 My payne, with prickyng in hert.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 612 By thornes and prickings of bushes.
a1617 S. Hieron Penance for Sinne in Wks. (1620) II. 328 To the pricking and astonishing of thy heart.
1704 Dict. Rusticum Cloyed, or Accloy'd, is no other, than the pricking of an Horse with a Nail in the Shooing.
1743 Thoughts in Sickness 5 Too long I've roar'd in uncorrected Smart, Without the Prickings of a contrite Heart!
1815 W. H. Ireland Scribbleomania 205 Those elected to this function Ne'er feel the prickings of compunction.
1899 T. C. Allbutt et al. Syst. Med. VIII. 768 The exudation of sebum after pricking is of importance.
1973 Times 24 Oct. 26/6 The possible conflict of loyalty between a manager's duty to his employer and the prickings of his conscience.
1989 P. Rance French Cheese Bk. vii. 211 Next comes pricking of the cheese to allow..aeration needed inside for the mould to develop.
2004 West Australian (Nexis) 20 Nov. 61 This will be a big step forward, particularly for children who do not like..getting numb fingers from all the pricking.
b. The sensation of, or as of, being pricked or wounded; smarting, tingling; an instance of this. pricking of (also in) one's thumbs n. an intuitive feeling or hunch; a premonition or foreboding (used in various constructions with allusion to quot. a1616).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [noun] > pricking or tingling
prickinga1398
tinglinga1450
punction1596
dindling1597
compunction1604
punto1617
prickling1656
sharpness1694
puncture1709
puncturation1733
pins and needles1813
tingle1832
pringling1890
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > foresight, foreknowledge > premonition, presentiment > [noun] > instance of
boding1297
pricking of (also in) one's thumbsa1398
sense1549
presagition?c1550
forefeeling1551
aboding1579
bode1587
foresignification1592
presage1597
prevention1601
bodement1642
presentiment1663
forebodea1680
forebodement1755
omening1796
bodeword1832
forefeel1839
hunch1904
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 256 Þe dronkelewe mannes face is pale..and he..feeleþ sore prikkynge [a1450 Bodl. picchinge] and ache in his heued.
a1400–50 Stockh. Med. MS 101 For þe schottes & þe prikkynges in sydes.
a1500 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Wellcome) f. 32v (MED) Bot þe gret obtolmya is wen the eye warkyth and þe whit is rede and þer is het, pryckyng, and terys.
1588 J. Read tr. in F. Arcaeus Compend. Method ii. vii. f. 53 Prickings of the sinewes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iv. i. 61 By the pricking of my Thumbes, Something wicked this way comes. View more context for this quotation
1661 H. More Let. 14 Apr. in Conway Lett. (1992) iv. 184 A ten days cold..hath much quench'd..my spiritts, after the paine and prickings of my spleen.
1723 J. Markland Cythereia 18 I have such Pain and Prickings in my Side.
1779 W. Cullen First Lines Pract. Physic II. 101 The heat of the body..produces profuse sweating, preceded..with a sense of pricking, as of pin points in the skin.
1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 687 Producing terrible pricking and itching.
1935 ‘G. Orwell’ Clergyman's Daughter i. 43 ‘I had a feeling I was going to meet you to-day.’ ‘By the pricking of your thumbs, I presume?’
1966 E. Palmer Plains of Camdeboo vi. 92 There should have been a pricking in our thumbs the morning we went to see the fossils, but we had no warning at all.
1980 W. Percy Second Coming i. v. 171 A violent pricking went up his back and into his hairline.
2004 S. Blackburn Lust iii. 33 The tingling and prickings of desire.
2. The action of spurring or goading onward; instigation, incitement, provocation; an instance of this. Now rare except as merged with 1a.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [noun] > incitement or instigation
puttingOE
sleatinga1122
eggingc1200
pricking?c1225
enticement1303
movinga1382
eggmentc1386
stirring1399
instinct1412
instigationc1422
motiona1425
provocationa1425
coyingc1440
ertingc1440
tollingc1440
artation1441
incitation1477
instinction1490
inhortationc1503
stimulation1526
abetment1533
onsetting1541
provokement?1545
incitament1579
stirring?c1580
irritation1589
incitement1594
spurring1611
to give foment to1613
fomenting1615
prompturea1616
proritation1615
urgea1618
exstimulation1626
fomentation1633
instinctment1661
spurning1672
impulsing1885
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 173 Seinte Pawel hefde..flesches pricunge.
a1250 (?c1200) Hali Meiðhad (Titus) (1940) l. 16 (MED) Fleschliche þohtes..leadeð þe & drahen wið hare pricunges of fleschliche fulðen to licomliche lustes.
?c1310 (?OE) Royal Charter: Æðelstan to Milton Abbey (Sawyer 391) in A. J. Robertson Anglo-Saxon Charters (1956) 44 Ich Aþelstan.., gelad by þe pricingge of ðe Haly Goste, grantye and confirmye [etc.].
tr. Palladius De re Rustica (Duke Humfrey) (1896) iv. 795 (MED) The wilde oxe..yf he sitte as lame, No fier, no strok, no prickyng come hym to.
a1500 ( J. Yonge tr. Secreta Secret. (Rawl.) (1898) 205 (MED) Ofte Prayer quynchyth the Pryckynges of vices.
1666 J. Bunyan Grace Abounding 41 I did..find in my mind a secret pricking forward thereto.
a1785 J. H. Stevenson Wks. (1795) III. 275 All the devil can do with his pricking and spurring Is to set you a longing and set you a stirring.
1882 Daily Tel. 12 Sept. 2/1 In former times there was a custom called pricking—a sailor got behind a boy and forced him up by digging into him with a sharp marlingspike.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > [noun] > art of horse-riding > use of hands and legs > using spurs
prickingc1330
spurringa1591
c1330 Pennyworth of Wit (Auch.) 311 in Englische Studien (1884) 7 116/2 (MED) His leman out at a windowe biheld & seiȝe him com ouer þe feld, & bi þe prikeing sche him knewe.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 2599 The heraudes lefte hir prikyng [v.r. prikkynges] vp and doun.
c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 191 Of prikyng and of huntyng for the hare.
Promptorium Parvulorum (Harl. 221) 413 Prykynge, of hors, cursitacio.
a1450 ( tr. Vegetius De Re Militari (Douce) f. 93v (MED) Ridynge & prykynge þat longeþ to men of armes profiteþ & encreseþ more by vsage and exercise and by good & noble horsynge þan by eny oþer rules þat we mowe make þerof.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xiv. 89 In prikkyng contrar ther enemes.
1560 J. Daus tr. J. Sleidane Commentaries f. cxixv Whan a benefice or prebende is fallen..what busie suite, what gadding and prickyng vp and downe.
a1578 R. Lindsay Hist. & Cron. Scotl. (1899) I. 405/14 Thay..had the Scottis men in plunging be thair pricking and skirmisching.
1829 J. F. Cooper Wept of Wish-ton-wish I. x. 148 He worried, by dint of hard pricking, the miserable hack..through the forest.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > marking > a mark > trace or vestige > [noun] > left by the passage of something > of a person or animal > of a rabbit or hare
prickinga1425
footstallc1475
fostal?c1475
prick1598
fare?1610
a1425 Edward, Duke of York Master of Game (Digby) 112 He shulde..nought rechate, till..he fynde her poyntynge, or pryckynge.
1575 G. Gascoigne Noble Arte Venerie lx. 169 If he can finde the footing of the Hare (which we call pricking).
1616 G. Markham tr. C. Estienne et al. Maison Rustique (rev. ed.) vii. xxxiii. 696 By these traces or footsteps, he shall by little and little picke out which way she is gone, and this amongst hunts-men is called the pricking forth of the hare.
1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentleman 281 The prints and prickings of sundry sorts of beasts, might easily be discerned.
1758 T. Fairfax Compl. Sportsman 97 When the Huntsman finds his hounds at a default..let him hunt on..looking narrowly on the ground as he goes, to see to find the footing or pricking of the hare.
1834 T. Medwin Angler in Wales I. 262 These tracks were sometimes lost..; but by careful pricking, they were hit upon again.
1847 R. S. Surtees Hawbuck Grange ii. 48 At length even pricking failed.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale 65 Prickin's, the footsteps of a hare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > [noun]
tiffing?c1225
hightinga1387
prickinga1425
perching?1578
pranking1580
primpingc1590
sprunkinga1685
prinking1687
smugging1736
titivation1805
beautifying1836
prink1869
dolling1906
makeover1966
a1425 Medulla Gram. (Stonyhurst) f. 28 Fixura, fastenyng or prickynge.
c1450 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 583/31 (MED) Fixura, anglice, prykkynge or festenynge.
a1500 W. Hilton Mixed Life (Royal) in G. G. Perry Eng. Prose Treat. (1921) 22 With-in thi herte thynkynge, boostynge, and prikkynge and preysynge of thi silfe.
1562 Certayn Serm. preached in Lincs. in H. Latimer 27 Serm. ii. f. 116v Women..haue muche pryckynge..when they put on their cap.
1601 A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 45 They haue spent a good part of the day in..pricking and pinning.
6.
a. Marking or writing by means of pricks, dots, etc.; a mark or pattern so made; spec. (a) the writing down of music by means of pricks (prick v. 20a) (now chiefly historical); †(b) the selection or appointment of a sheriff (see prick v. 21) (rare); (c) figured ornamentation or embroidery (now historical except as in sense 6b).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile fabric or an article of textile fabric > sewn or ornamented textile fabric > [noun] > embroidery or ornamental sewing
broidery1382
browdingc1386
broideringa1450
broudur1470
bruserya1522
prickinga1527
orphany?1553
embroidery?1577
brede1644
braiding1831
stitch-work1848
Madras work1865
Madeira lace1882
Madeira work1882
paraffle1911
a1527 W. Peeris Prov. in Anglia (1892) 14 477 A song myssowndithe yf the prickynge be not right.
1532–3 Act 24 Hen. VIII c. 13 No manne vnder the degree of a barons soune..shall weare any maner embrodery, prickyng or printing with golde, siluer, or other sylke.
1621 in E. F. Rimbault Old Cheque-bk. Chapel Royal (1872) 10 For pricking of songes and for a new sett of bookes for the Chappell.
1699 H. Wanley Let. 25 June in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eminent Lit. Men (1843) 273 The reducing of any Tune in that book to our way of pricking on five lines.
a1754 T. Carte Gen. Hist. Eng. (1755) IV. 464 It was now the usual time of the year for the Kings pricking of sheriffs.
1811 J. Parkins Young Man's Best Compan. 116 By pricking over the book, is meant an examining every article of the Journal against the Ledger.
1960 H. Hayward Connoisseur's Handbk. Antique Collecting 228/2 Pricking, delicate needle-point engraving used principally for decorating silver with armorials and inscriptions in 16th to 17th cent.
1993 Burlington Mag. Sept. 612/1 Both these scholars describe the pricking [on a drawing in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford]..as ‘mysterious’.
b. Embroidery and Lacemaking. The transferring of a design by means of pricks from a pattern to an underlying card or other surface, which is then used as a guide or template; (now usually) the pattern copied or guide produced in this way.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > lacemaking > other equipment
thread-sister1721
pricking1851
sister1892
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > lacemaking > processes involved in
running1817
pricking1851
tressing1862
shadow-stitch1882
1851 Times 4 Mar. 9/1 (advt.) Patterns of all kinds of Embroidery, Braiding, &c., pricking machine, and receipt for reproducing the design on any material.
c1890 tr. T. de Dillmont Encycl. Needlework 480 The pricking of the pattern beforehand is particularly important in the case of the common torchon lace, where the real beauty of the design consists in its regularity.
1913 Times 27 June 39/6 The adaptation of faulty patterns from wallpapers and tablecloths has been done away with and old prickings have been unearthed and reintroduced.
1953 M. Powys Lace & Lace-making iv. 26 Straight lace, all the threads being hung on the lace pillow at the top of a straight pricking.
2002 Library Jrnl. (Nexis) 15 Aug. 92 It includes..patterns for..lace projects with step-by-step instructions, prickings, diagrams, and photographs of the finished pieces.
c. Palaeography. The piercing of a series of holes on a page or leaf to assist with the ruling of lines; a set of such holes (usually in plural).
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > writing > written text > layout > [noun] > lines ruled for writing on > series of holes for ruling, piercing of such
pricking1908
1908 E. Johnston Writing & Illuminating (ed. 2) vi. 110 The writing line dots are pricked through all the sheets by means of a fine awl or needle... See also methods of ruling without pricking.
1944 Trans. & Proc. Amer. Philol. Assoc. 75 71 Palaeographers in search of objective criteria for dating and placing manuscripts will do well to consider prickings.
1971 T. A. M. Bishop Eng. Caroline Minuscule p. xii In English MSS. written after c. 900 the prickings for horizontal ruling are found only in outer lateral margins.
1990 Speculum 65 652 He discusses..the folding of sheets to make gatherings, the pricking and ruling of the writing area, the writing of the text [etc.].
ΚΠ
1647 J. Howell New Vol. of Lett. 141 The length of the voyage makes them [sc. wines] subject to pricking.
1682 Art & Myst. of Vintners 58 Take a handful of Rosemary at the Bung-hole of your Vessel..and let it hang in the Wine till it be without pricking.
1799 tr. Laboratory (ed. 6) I. xiv. 432 To prevent Wine from pricking.
Compounds
C1. † pricking-hat n. Obsolete a riding hat.† pricking-knife n. Obsolete rare a tool used by carpenters for pricking or piercing.† pricking-note n. Obsolete a note of goods for shipment, on which a customs officer pricked each item as it was delivered on board, and on which the captain gave a receipt for the goods.† pricking-pallet n. Obsolete a headpiece worn when riding (see pallet n.1 1).† pricking-pole n. Obsolete a pole with an iron point for propelling a boat.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > headgear > [noun] > hat > for specific purpose
pricking-hat1402
matinee hat1869
tinfoil hat1884
safari hat1935
1402 Inquisition Misc. (P.R.O.: C 145/280/25) m. 3 Decem paria de vambraces sex prikynghattes quinque palettes.
a1500 Lancelot of Laik (1870) 2890 Galiot non armys bur that day, Nor as o knycht he wald hyme-self aray, But as o seruand in o harbariowne, O prekyne hat [Fr. capel de fer] and ek o gret trownsciown..and one o cursour set.
c1613 in T. Stapleton Plumpton Corr. (1839) p. liv Either a pricknighate [read prickinghate] or a sallett upon their heads.
pricking iron n. chiefly Saddlery an implement for making a regular series of holes or pricks in marking out a pattern for stitching.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > keeping or management of horses > horse-gear > [noun] > saddle- or harness-making > saddler's equipment
stake nail1688
welt1871
stob1872
chamfering-toola1877
pricking iron1904
1904 P. N. Hasluck Harness Making ii. i. 18 Fig. 32 shows a tool used in stamping the lines preparatory to stitching. These tools vary in width from three teeth, which are used only for round points and scalloped work, to twenty-four teeth for straight lines... [Caption] Fig. 32.—Pricking-iron.
1960 G. E. Evans Horse in Furrow xvi. 206 A pricking iron—a chisel-shaped implement with points or teeth at regular intervals on the blade—was first used to mark out the pattern and to ensure that the stitches were uniformly placed.
1992 M. Margetts Classic Crafts 194 (caption) With a cork block as a base, a pricking iron is used to create evenly spaced holes.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > cutting tool > knife > [noun] > other knives
bollock knifec1400
paring knife1415
spudc1440
pricking-knifec1500
shaving-knife1530–1
by-knifec1570
heading knife1574
stock knife1582
drawing knife1583
bung-knife1592
weeding knife1598
drawing knife1610
heading knife1615
draw knife1679
dressing knife1683
redishing knife1688
mocotaugan1716
skinning knife1767
paper knife1789
draw shave1824
leaf-cutter1828
piece-knife1833
nut-pick1851
relic knife1854
butch1859
straw-knife1862
sportsman's companion1863
ulu1864
skinner1872
hacker1875
over-shave1875
stripping-knife1875
Stanley knife1878
flat-back1888
gauge-knife1888
tine-knife1888
plough1899
band-knife1926
X-Acto1943
shank1953
box cutter1955
ratchet knife1966
ratchet1975
c1500 Debate Carpenter's Tools in Rev. Eng. Stud. (1987) 38 457 (MED) Than bespake the prykyng-knyfe.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > importing and exporting > [noun] > customs documents
cocket1425
transire1599
bill of sight1662
bill of store1670
sufferance1670
passport1714
pricking-note1846
transit pass1862
certificate of origin1886
dandy-note-
1846 Times 14 May 8/3 Defrauding the revenue by putting his signature, as captain of the Rosalind, to the ‘pricking note’, a document which thereby admitted that the brandy..had been..stowed away on board that vessel.
1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products Pricking-note, a form of custom-house order..delivered by a shipper of goods to the searcher.
1881 Times 31 Aug. 8/3 The warrant and addenda (or the pricking note) in the case of exportation of wet or dry goods can be sent to the proprietor of the warehouse.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > helmet > [noun] > leather helmet
palletc1330
pricking-pallet1403
1403 in M. T. Löfvenberg Contrib. Middle Eng. Lexicogr. & Etymol. (1946) 44 (MED) [Divers arms, swords,] prykyngpaletes.
c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iii. 88 (MED) Some wil haue..A prikyng palet, of plate þe cower.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > rowing apparatus > [noun] > pole
spritOE
shaltree1307
quant1440
poy1486
boat pole1698
setting-pole1763
stower1777
punting polea1798
setter1816
punt pole1831
kent1844
punt stick1846
pricking-pole1892
quant-pole1898
1892 P. H. Emerson Son of Fens xv. 153 Carry my pricking-pole up.
pricking-wheel n. = prick wheel n. at prick n. Compounds 2.
ΚΠ
1909 Gettysburg (Pa.) Times 15 Apr. Harness..can be made to look like new by running a harness maker's pricking wheel over the stitching.
1988 Courier-Mail (Nexis) 10 Mar. The use of paint, stencils, pinking shears and pricking wheel helped textural and visual success.
2002 Church Times 5 July 17/3 The pattern is pricked out, using a knitting-needle, penknife, or tailor's pricking-wheel.
C2. With following adverb; cf. pricking-up n.
pricking off n. Horticulture = pricking out n.
ΚΠ
1881 P. Henderson Handbk. Plants 386/2 Pricking off.—This is a term used by gardeners for the process of transplanting small seedlings as soon as they are fit to handle.
1916 Times 26 Aug. 9/6 The seeds are sown in the usual way in shallow drills drawn in the soil... By sowing thinly much sturdier plants are obtained for pricking off.
1936 Amer. Home Feb. 40/1 Pricking Off means transplanting seedling from seed bed to flats, usually spacing the plants 1'' apart.
pricking out n. Horticulture the process or practice of separating and transplanting seedlings from where they were sown to a larger container or outdoor bed; cf. prick v. 17.
ΚΠ
1798 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening (ed. 2) xiv. 184 The pricking out the young plants is to done when they are three or four days old.
1935 A. G. L. Hellyer Pract. Gardening v. 47 Pricking out should be done as soon as it becomes necessary.
1976 Abingdon Herald 9 Dec. 5/2 A heating cable will enable you to carry on plants after pricking out.
2001 Exotic & Greenhouse Gardening June 67/3 In a shaded spot seedlings will be ready for pricking out in a month.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
prickingadj.
/ˈprɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈprɪkɪŋ/ 1. That causes a prick or puncture; sharp, piercing, prickly. Also in figurative contexts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > making holes or becoming holed > [adjective] > piercing > pricking
pricking?c1225
punctorious1675
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 107 Nest is eart utewið of prikinde [a1250 Nero prikiinde; a1250 Titus prikiende; a1500 Royal prikyng] þornes.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 66 (MED) Þe þorn-hog..ys al ywryȝe myd prikyinde [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues scharp] eles.
?a1425 tr. Guy de Chauliac Grande Chirurgie (N.Y. Acad. Med.) f. 71 (MED) If sich maner fracture war with squirlez prickyng, þai shal be planed with a lenticuler & oþer instrumentez.
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Ezek. xxviii. 24 She shal no more be a prickinge thorne, & an hurtinge brere vnto the house of Israel.
1608 E. Topsell Hist. Serpents 66 With their pricking stinges they [sc. bees] greeuously wound and torment.
1630 M. Drayton Muses Elizium iii. 30 By stinging Nettles, pricking Teasels Raysing blisters like the measels.
1706 J. Hussey Glory Christ Unveil'd ii. 38 Roses are observed to grow upon pricking Bushes; so Christ is observed to grow upon a pricking Bush.
1796 W. Withering Arrangem. Brit. Plants (ed. 3) II. 346 Juncus acutus,..Pricking large Sea-rush. Sand Hills on the sea coast of Merionethshire.
1827 W. Tennant Papistry Storm'd 173 Wi' his prickin' gude pyk-staff Made them rebound and wintle aff.
1901 L. Binyon Bacchanal of Alexander in Odes 17 That furnace, which for sixty days they pierced, Wrapt in a hot slow cloud of pricking grains [sc. sand].
2003 Pakistan Newswire (Nexis) 9 May The High Court Bar chief said that..the extra constitutional National Security Council is another pricking thorn in the body of democracy.
2. Designating or producing a sensation of being pricked; causing a sharp sudden pain; having a painful or wounding effect on the body or (figurative) the emotions, mind, etc.; piercing; smarting, stinging, prickling.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > pain > types of pain > [adjective] > pricking or tingling
pricking1483
tingling1543
thorny-pricking1594
dindling1597
punctory1661
punctious1688
prickly1749
tingly1862
pringling1896
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 107 Swa schal ancre þolien utewið hard onhire flesch & prikiende pinen.
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 148 Þe poudres efterward and prekiinde [c1450 Bk. Vices & Virtues fretynge poudres and scharpe] of harde wyþniminge.
a1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomaeus Anglicus De Proprietatibus Rerum (BL Add.) f. 83v In suche aposteme, þe yȝe swellith & wepiþ & is rede & feliþ ache & prickynge hete.
1483 W. Caxton tr. J. de Voragine Golden Legende 430/2 Kepyng hymself ryght curyously from the pryckyng sawtes and watche of the world the flesshe and the deuyll.
1528 T. Paynell tr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova in Joannes de Mediolano Regimen Sanitatis Salerni sig. E j Mylke..is good agaynst prickynge humours in the entrayles.
1569 R. Grafton Chron. II. 714 King Edward..was releeued of the most part, of his pricking feare, and inwarde suspicion.
1629 T. Browne in Darcie Ann. Q. Eliz. ii. 371 Marshall Byrone, who with pricking words wounded the Maiesty of the King, was now beheaded.
1656 J. Smith Compl. Pract. Physick 140 There is no pricking cold.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Cancer Primitive Cancer, is that which comes of it self, and appears at first about the bigness of a Pea or Bean, causing an inward continual and pricking Pain.
1827 J. Forbes tr. R. T. H. Laennec Treat. Dis. Chest (ed. 2) i. iii. iv. 511 Attended with pricking pains in the right side.
a1940 F. S. Fitzgerald Last Tycoon (1941) vi. 122 They were nicking at each other—little pricking strokes like men do sometimes.
1974 V. B. Mountcastle et al. Med. Physiol. (ed. 13) I. xi. 355/2 The short-latency pricking pain evoked by a noxious stimulus is followed by a second long-latency pain of a burning and less bearable quality.
2005 Africa News (Nexis) 16 Nov. Sitting in front of my host's stately office desk for a quarter of an hour, my escalating iodine levels triggering pricking pins and needles through my bums.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > zeal or enthusiasm > [adjective]
needfulOE
anguishous?c1225
eager?a1300
throc1330
fierce1377
desirousc1386
affectuousa1400
yeverousa1400
inwardc1402
earnestful?1406
rathe?c1450
zealing1459
increc1480
affectual1483
zealous1526
affectioneda1533
jealous1535
heartyc1540
affectivec1550
earnest1563
pricking1575
forward1587
affectionate1598
passiveless1602
zealful1602
full-hearteda1616
wholehearted1644
intense1645
high1649
covetous1652
thorough-hearted1656
keen as mustard1659
fell1667
fervent1673
smirk1674
zealed1679
prest1697
strenuous1713
enthusiastic1741
enthusiastical1755
whole-souled1821
con amore1828
lyrical1875
mustard1919
gung ho1942
1575 R. B. Apius & Virginia sig. Aijv The perte and pricking prime of youth, ought chastisment to haue.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [adjective] > inciting or instigating
stirring1421
movingc1443
provokingc1443
incitative1490
urgent1559
propulsory1585
pricking1592
pulsive1602
incentive1603
incitatory1610
urging1612
animalizing1617
impellent1620
irritant1636
instigative1644
propulsive1648
promptive1653
parastatic1656
exstimulatory1657
impulsory1659
appelling1666
irritative1686
instigating1702
spurring1702
stimulatinga1732
stimulatory1758
impulsive1788
stimulant1803
stimulative1836
exertivea1856
inciting1855
incitant1886
incitive1888
on-driving1927
incitory1941
1592 A. Day Eng. Secretorie (rev. ed.) i. sig. H4 The Hortatorie and Dehortatorie are a little more vehement, stirring and pricking then the others.
5. Of ears: pricked, pointed, erect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [adjective] > types of ear
lavea1400
sousing1567
pricking1614
erected1676
erect1735
flapped1841
cauliflowered1947
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husbandry i. i. 3 A small thin eare, short and pricking.
1616 B. Jonson Oberon 119 in Wks. I Stick our pricking eares With the pearle that Tethys weares.
1788 R. Cumberland Observer IV. 294 Critic curs with pricking ears Bark at each Bard as he appears.
1866 T. C. Irwin Poems 167 Their pricking ears are listening to the galloping of horses.
1921 ‘M. Brand’ Seventh Man v. 40 As he pulled her back to a swinging canter her head went high, with pricking ears.
2004 Washington Post (Nexis) 14 May e01 Jockey Elliott..noticed those pricking ears at the finish.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE
adj.?c1225