From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprickprick1 /prɪk/ verb 1 [transitive]HOLE 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, transitive]ROUGH/NOT SMOOTH 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 sensation3 → prick somebody’s conscience4 → prick (up) its ears5 → prick (up) your ears → prick sth↔ out→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
prick• A domestic goose is cooked when the juices from the breast run pale yellow when pricked.• A small bead of blood formed where she had pricked her finger.• She accidentally pricked herself with a contaminated needle.• How to reassure this woman when her question pricked his own uncertainty?• With a fork, prick holes in the cake layers.• When tender, the peel sinks to the bottom of the pan and you can prick it easily with a fork.• I pricked my ears up on that one.• Tears pricked my eyes and stung in my throat.• With the pricking of the Wall Street bubble, that theory is now itself history.• Prick the potatoes before baking them.• His ears pricked themselves to attention as he became aware of the master's mood.• Pale ears beneath a boyish crewcut were pricked up alertly.prickprick2 noun [countable] 1 person taboo spokenUNPLEASANTINSULT a very offensive word for a stupid unpleasant man. Do not use this word.2 sex organ informal not politeHBH a penis3 point entering a) HOLEa slight pain you get when something sharp goes into your skin I didn’t feel the prick of the needle. b) HOLE British English an act of pricking something Give the sausages a prick. → pinprick4 emotion a sudden slight feeling you get when you are unhappy about somethingprick of She felt a prick of resentment when she saw them together.5 → prick of conscienceExamples from the Corpus
prick• With each step, I felt a prick against my heel.• The lamb rolls fall apart with the first prick of the fork.• Blood was obtained by heel prick.• Blood was dripping from several pricks on his arm.• He felt a sudden sting like the prick of a needle in his back.Origin prick2 Old English prica 