Showing results for "prodding"

• present participle of prod.

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 about in the dark and guessing isn't really a safe thing to do.

From Science Daily • Oct. 21, 2025

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 investors to beef up their exposure to non-U.S. stocks has been especially difficult since 2008, says Wendy Harrington, executive vice president of global marketing at Franklin Resources Inc.'s Franklin Templeton Investments.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2012

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