prodding

American  

[prod-ing] / ˈprɒd ɪŋ /

noun

1. the act of poking or jabbing with or as if with something pointed.

   Finally, after five minutes and some prodding with a stick, the cow moved out of the road.

2. the act of trying to incite someone to action, as if by poking; nagging or urging.

   The National Research Council finally succeeded in its assigned mission—albeit with some prodding from a public interest group and the courts.

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adjective

1. poking, urging, or nagging.

   It wasn’t until two days later, under the prodding questions of close relatives, that she revealed the true source of the ring.

Etymology

Origin of prodding

First recorded in 1840–45; prod + -ing ¹ for the noun senses; prod + -ing ² for the adjective sense

Example Sentences

Prodding individual rotors in the metamaterial and tracking the resulting displacements and elongations in the system, the researchers identified different 'mechanical molecules': groups of rotors and springs which move as a single unit.

From Science Daily • Jan. 25, 2024

Prodding each significant development in its narrative for disappointments, shortcomings, flaws — drawing on examples from both within the industry and the wider culture — some may read the series as unnecessarily downbeat.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 18, 2020

Prodding a large herd of qubits into entanglement gets tricky, so any practical quantum computer must contend with insufficient entanglement.

From Scientific American • Aug. 27, 2013

Prodding guests to do more advance planning, combined with the tracking of guests as they roam the parks, will help Disney manage its work force more efficiently.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2013

Prodding him more would be like poking an oyster.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Related Words

• goad
• motivate
• prompt
• propel
• provoke
• remind
• spur
• stimulate