prodding

[prod-ing]

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.

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of prodding¹

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

Example Sentences

The negotiations continued to falter for the next several months as the Israeli leader resisted prodding from the White House.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She says she confronted Bietz and his daughter after she saw him leaning over the sea lion and prodding it with a knife.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

After working for several years as a federal public defender, she decided to run for judge at the prodding of a mentor.

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The final straw came when a cleaner was filmed restraining the elderly man and violently shaking the bed frame before prodding him with a walking stick.

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The reductions in water use will be politically difficult, Castle said, but she noted that the seven states have a history “with prodding from the federal government, to ultimately come to agreement around solutions.”

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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