prick

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make a small hole in something with a sharp point.

   The nurse pricked my finger to take a blood sample.

2. 2
   verb

   To cause a sharp, stinging pain.

   The thorns pricked her hands as she picked the roses.

3. 3
   noun

   The act or feeling of being pierced by a small, sharp point.

   I felt a sharp prick as the needle went in.

4. 4
   verb

   To raise something, especially ears, in attention.

   The dog pricked up its ears at the sound.

From Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu (“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), from Proto-West Germanic *prikō, *priku, from Proto-Germanic *prikô, *prikō (“a prick, point”), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”). Cognate with West Frisian prik (“small hole”), West Frisian prikke (“penis”), Dutch prik (“point, small stick", also "penis”), Danish prik (“dot”), Icelandic prik (“dot, small stick”).

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