1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 27 Slicing it into little gobbets, prick it on a prog of iron, and hang it in a fornace.

1634 W. Wood New Englands Prospect ii. vii. 73 The water having dank't his pistoles, and lost his Spanish progge in the bottome, the Indians swomme him out by the chinne to the shore.

1777 R. Forbes Ulysses' Answer 31 in Sel. Coll. Sc. Poems Sin the Fates hae orders gi'en To bring the progues [= arrows] to Troy.

a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Prog, a curved spike or prong, to drag what is seized by it... A prog would be of no use if it could not hold and draw as well as pierce. Both these words are otherwise pronounced progue.

1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Prog, a prick.—Progly, a. prickly.

1829 J. Hay Poems 61 You..stab'd him deadly wi' thy progue, Thro' flesh an' bane.

1870 J. P. Robson Evangeline 369 ‘Branks’ wi sharp progs doon yor thropple to gan.

1880 P. M'Arthur Amusements 64 I've followed him through brake an' bog, Wi' mony a whin and thorny prog Richt in my face.

1968 in Dict. Amer. Regional Eng. (1996) IV. 355/2 Prog, a long pole with an iron point on one end and a small hook on the other.

1974 S. Dobson Geordie Dict. 50 Prog, the prickle of a thorn, whin, etc.

1996 C. I. Macafee Conc. Ulster Dict. 262/2 Prog, a bradawl.

1821 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Aug. 5/1 I was no so kittly as she thought, and could thole her progs and jokes with the greatest pleasance and composure.

1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle in Blackwood's Mag. May 753 One of them..touched the hilt of his sword,..while the other ordered the sentry to run the poor fellow..through. However he got off with one or two progues in a very safe place.

1891 J. J. H. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 31 He'll mebbe need anidder proge, Frae my aald staff.

1910 C. Fraser Glengonnar 75 This was a gran' chance to ha'e a baur wi' her, and get a progue at her history knowledge.

1910 C. Fraser Glengonnar 99 Maister Strong had to gi'e him a progue in the ribs to sit still.

1923 W. S. Churchill World Crisis (1938) I. xviii. 390 I immediately expressed great discontent with the dockyard delays and asked, ‘Shall I give him a prog?’ or words to that effect.

1941 N. M. Gunn Silver Darlings v. 91 Casting around him..he saw a bunch of hazel trees growing nearby, with the young shoots, twice as long as himself, coming straight up out of the ground. If he got a stick and gave it one sharp prog under the stone!

1950 R. Moore Candlemas Bay 291 Gi' me one progue at him [sc. a shark].

1979 J. J. Graham Shetland Dict. 64/2 Gie yun tatties a proag, wid tu, ta see if der boiled.

1727 W. Somervile Occas. Poems 159 A party of Hussars of late For Prog, and Plunder, scour'd the Plains.

1735 W. Pardon Dyche's New Gen. Eng. Dict. Prog, a Cant Word for Provision, Goods, or Money laid up in store.

1853 W. G. Simms Marie de Berniere: Tale Cresc. City ii. 361 He had sent all his carts and wagons to bring them to their new abodes, with all their prog and furniture.

1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northants. Words II. 137 He's got a fine prog of money somewhere.

1903 M. Tyson in Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 628/2 [Kent] Her father was married three times and she is the only descendant, so she has any amount of prog.

1934 W. W. Gill Manx Dial. 91 Prog, possessions laid by. The same word as ‘sprog’... Manx prug.

1953 M. Traynor Eng. Dial. Donegal 279/2 Prog,..booty.

1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Prog, one that seeks his victuals by wandering and begging.

a1865 L. H. Sigourney Illustr. Poems (1869) 269 You're a prog, I perceive—it is true to the letter, And your sharp Yankee sisters will like you the better.

1888 E. MacColl Eng. Poet. Wks. 280 Good for him! the plucky prog, He is now a—shanty-cook!

1835 People's Press (Gettysburg, Pa.) 18 Sept. 4/5 Somebody's cut away the prog basket from behind our carriage.

1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature I. viii. 245 Taking out a pair of pistols, and lots of ammunition, from the bottom of his prog-basket.

1865 N. Brit. Rev. Sept. 229 During the repast a lean hungry tribe of dogs were working outside at his ‘prog-basket’. They opened it; stole a goose.

1883 J. Hartley Blackpool 26 in Leeds Mercury Weekly Suppl. (1896) 16 May We'd to pay tuppence apiece for ivvery bundle, an' we kept nowt but th' prog-basket.

1900 G. Swift Somerley 137 When you lifted your arm to take your cap off to the proctor, you pulled the reins and lugged the horse's head round into the prog's mouth.

1935 N. Mitchison We have been Warned iv. 428 We might make the progs feel a bit awkward!

1954 A. Seager Frieze of Girls (2004) x. 181 When you saw the prog, he would blandly fine you a pound if it was your first offense.

1965 Guardian 6 May 5/5 The progs have chased and chased us Up and down the town.

1980 A. Powell To keep Ball Rolling III. iii. 64 Could the American public be made to understand that ‘the prog’ and his ‘bullers’ meant the Proctor and his bowler-hatted ‘bulldogs’, the University police?

1937 Tempo July 18/1 The Batchelors, who inaugurated a new swing prog several months ago on WCBM are still staggering around.

1946 Progress-Rev. (La Porte City, Iowa) 5 Dec. 6/5 (heading) Prominent Iowans to appear on ‘Bride and Groom’ radio prog.

1951 K. Amis Let. 2 Dec. (2000) 264 All I ask is, when you introduce a selection of your stuff on the 3rd prog., remember the old pall who was always so encouraging in the days when you were still swimming against the stream.

1972 New Scientist 15 June 644 In tonight's prog, Anthony Smith has a look at the world's newest national park.

1989 Fast Forward 15 Nov. 25/2 Britain's best loved pop prog.

1993 Time Out 31 Mar. 147/4 This new series of the vintage news quiz lines up journos from rival current affairs progs.

2001 Independent 13 Nov. (Tuesday Review section) 4/1 The Corrections would seem to have little to contribute to the national debate about the JY prog..on Radio 2.

1958 ‘N. Blake’ Penknife in my Heart vii. 91 The Lanes, his hosts, were a prog. couple.

1971 Progress (Cape Town) May 1/1 (heading) Prog. expansion programme.

1980 Rand Daily Mail (Johannesburg) 14 Nov. 8 Does the Prog Party propose a federal constitution for South Africa?

1976 Valley News (Van Nuys, Calif.) 3 Sept. (Friday section) 11/2 As far as true musicianship goes in the German prog-rock band, keyboardist Jurgen Fritz steals the show.

1996 Time Out N.Y. 4 Sept. 77/1 If you've listened to 2112 , an intensely prog album by Rush from 1977, you'll probably agree that the Canuck trio would never yield a more ludicrous moment than ‘The Temple of Syrinx’.

2004 Classic Rock Oct. 76/2 We're prog in the sense that a lot of the arrangements are not straightforward verse-chorus-verse-chorus ones, they're full of long, instrumental textured bits.

1959 P. Marshall Brown Girl, Brownstones iv. vi. 251 She's probably some Prog from the Village hootenanny set who just loves Negroes.

1968 Listener 29 Aug. 280/2 Chaps like us..who don't believe in change, do far more for the Church than a thousand bloody progs like Pope John.

1971 Progress (Cape Town) May 1/2 (heading) Swing to Progs in North Rand.

1990 Village Voice (N.Y.) 16 Oct. 160/1 ‘Speaking the truth’ to the power of feminism is something many young men wish their dads had done, and aging progs are not necessarily immune from the fear they've been pussy-whipped.

2002 T. G. Mitchell Native vs. Settler 71 Neither the Liberal Party nor the Progs could ever support either the armed struggle or sanctions as to do so would have been electoral suicide.

1978 Creem Mar. 60/3 I forget what cesspool this snake slithered from (ELP? Atomic Rooster? Yes? One of those progs, anyway).

1986 Los Angeles Times (Nexis) 17 Mar. vi. 3/1 The British quintet's L.A. debut left no doubt that it's the heir to the ‘prog’ crown.

2004 Uncut Mar. 61/4 Goth, glam, metal and prog collide on this outré ‘concept’ platter.

2000 A. Calcutt Brit. Cult 348/2 Prog rock has been dismissed as snobbish, decadent self-indulgence.

1980 Los Angeles Times 18 Oct. ii. 8 His former Genesis colleague Steve Hackett served notice that he too has retained the adventurous spirit of the early prog-rockers.

2001 N.Y. Mag. 11 June 60/2 Radiohead's sprawling themes and high-concept visual style have earned the group comparisons to prog rockers like Pink Floyd.

1566 T. Drant tr. Horace Medicinable Morall sig. A^v Who gapes, who gawes, who pores, who pries Who proggs his mate but he?

1708 W. Sewel Large Dict. Eng. & Dutch Potten, geld potten To Hord up money, to prog.

1903 B. Kirkby in Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 627/2 Prog, to gather up fuel for a bonfire on Nov. 5th.

1722 A. Ramsay Poems (1961) III. 28 The King of Brutes obliged to cour; And on his Royal Paunches, thole A Dwerf to prog him with a Pole.

1811 A. Scott Poems (new ed.) 114 (Jam.) I ga'e my Pegasus the spur..An' sair his flank I've proggit.

1823 E. Logan St. Johnstoun II. 168 (Jam.) I was progging up the old witch a little, to..make her confess.

1825 J. T. Brockett Gloss. North Country Words Prog, Proggle, to prick, to prickle.

1864 J. R. Lowell Fireside Trav. 280 Just as the guides had progued..the donkeys into a brisk joggle.

1890 J. Service Thir Notandums xv. 103 He progued them wi' his fork.

1911 W. S. Churchill Let. 14 Sept. in R. S. Churchill Winston S. Churchill (1969) II. Compan. ii. xiv. 1125 Write to keep them progged up through any method that is open to you.

1941 E. P. O'Donnell Great Big Doorstep 72 Take the cover of a coffee-can. Prog it fulla holes for grating the stale bread good.

1959 John o'Groat Lit. Soc. 22 Far yir barefeet got prouged wi' thirsels or burnt wi' nettles.

1960 A. O. D. Claxton Suffolk Dial. 20th Cent. (ed. 2) 62 To prog out a rat from a hole with a sharp-pointed stick.

1974 S. Dobson Geordie Dict. 50 Aa've prog'd me thumb wiv a needle.

1988 G. Lamb Orkney Wordbk. (at cited word) Please sir Trevor's just progged me wi' a preen [= pin].

1886 J. J. H. Burgess Shetland Sketches 93 Dey took dir aers [= oars] oot o' da humlibinds [= straps used for fixing an oar to a rowlock], an' proged and shoved.

1891 J. Burgess Rasmie's Büddie 45 So! proge no in aboot mi feet, Du'll sweep awa da luck.

1896 Dial. Notes 1 333 (E.D.D.) Prog, to search for anything imbedded in the mud, as clams, terrapins, or cedar logs, by means of a sounding rod.

1933 J. Gray Lowrie 117 Nae waanderin da hills wi' a moorcavie proogin inta every fan fur karcages.

1901 Daily Chron. 24 Aug. 7/2 The chief offences for which the fines are imposed—or, to adopt 'Varsity parlance, for which undergraduates [at Cambridge] are ‘progged’—seem to be those of smoking when wearing cap and gown, and appearing in public on Sunday evenings improperly dressed.

1932 B. Pym Very Private Eye (1984) 15 He kissed me in the telephone box, having heard that a man was progged for a similar offence.

1948 Times 5 Oct. 5/4 No self-respecting undergraduate liked to go down from Oxford without having been ‘progged’.

1965 Guardian 6 May 5/3 This evening may be the last..on which undergraduates can be progged.

1997 Evening Standard (Nexis) 25 Nov. 11 A persistent legend had it that the Vice-Chancellor himself..had once been ‘progged’ and, by force of habit, had taken to his heels.