I. prick 1 /prɪk/ BrE AmE verb
1 . [transitive] to make a small hole in something using something sharp:
Prick the sausages before you grill them.
prick yourself/prick your finger (=accidentally make a hole in your skin)
She had pricked her finger on a rose thorn.
2 . [intransitive and transitive] if something pricks a part of your body, or if it pricks, you feel small sharp pains ⇨ prickle :
Angry tears pricked her eyes.
a curious pricking sensation
3 . prick sb’s conscience if something pricks someone’s conscience or their conscience pricks them, they feel guilty or ashamed:
Her conscience pricked her as she told the lie.
4 . prick (up) its ears if an animal pricks up its ears, it raises them to listen to a sound:
The rabbit stopped suddenly, pricking up its ears.
5 . prick (up) your ears if you prick up your ears or your ears prick up, you listen carefully because you have heard something interesting:
Jay pricked up his ears when I mentioned a vacation.
prick sth↔ out phrasal verb British English
to place young plants in soil after you have grown them from seed
II. prick 2 BrE AmE noun [countable]
[ Language: Old English ; Origin: prica ]
1 . PERSON spoken not polite a very offensive word for a stupid unpleasant man
2 . SEX ORGAN informal not polite a ↑ penis
3 . POINT ENTERING
a) a slight pain you get when something sharp goes into your skin:
I didn’t feel the prick of the needle.
b) British English an act of pricking something:
Give the sausages a prick.
⇨ ↑ pinprick
4 . EMOTION a sudden slight feeling you get when you are unhappy about something
prick of
She felt a prick of resentment when she saw them together.
5 . prick of conscience an uncomfortable feeling that you have done something wrong
• • •
THESAURUS
■ to make a hole in something
▪ make a hole in something to cause a hole to appear in something:
Make a hole in the bottom of the can using a hammer and nail.
▪ pierce to make a small hole in or through something, using a pointed object:
The dog's teeth had pierced her skin.
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Shelley wanted to have her ears pierced (=for earrings) .
▪ prick to make a very small hole in the surface of something, using a pointed object:
Prick the potatoes before baking them.
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My finger was bleeding where the needle had pricked it.
▪ punch to make a hole through paper or flat material using a metal tool or other sharp object:
I bought one of those things for punching holes in paper.
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You have to get your ticket punched before you get on the train.
▪ puncture to make a small hole in something, especially something where skin or a wall surrounds a softer or hollow inside part:
The bullet had punctured his lung.
▪ perforate formal to make a hole or holes in something:
Fragments of the bullet had perforated his intestines.
▪ drill to make a hole using a special tool, often one which turns round and round very quickly:
The dentist started drilling a hole in my tooth.
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They won a contract to drill for oil in the area.
▪ bore to make a deep round hole through a rock, into the ground etc:
They had to bore through solid rock.
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The men were boring a hole for the tunnel.