prong

[prawng, prong]

noun

1. one of the pointed tines of a fork.

2. any pointed, projecting part, as of an antler.

   Synonyms: spur, tooth, hook

3. a branch of a stream.

4. Jewelry.,  a tapering metal projection, usually heavier than a claw, rising from the base of a jewelry setting and used to hold a stone in position as needed.

verb (used with object)

1. to pierce or stab with or as if with a prong.

2. to supply with prongs.

prong

/ prɒŋ /

noun

1. a sharply pointed end of an instrument, such as on a fork

2. any pointed projecting part

verb

1. (tr) to prick or spear with or as if with a prong

Other Word Forms

• pronged adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of prong¹

1400–50; late Middle English pronge, prange pain, affliction, pointed instrument; akin to Old Swedish prang gorge, narrow street, Middle Low German prange stake, prangen to press, Gothic anaprangan to oppress

Word History and Origins

Origin of prong¹

C15: related to Middle Low German prange a stake, Gothic anaprangan to afflict

Example Sentences

This ruling on immigration enforcement goes hand-in-hand with that military deployment, two prongs in a strategy to wear away our outrage and shock at the dismantling of civil rights.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Not long after, while she was working in her corner of the lot, the idea of “Diggin’ Bridge” and its various prongs and phases — from archive-building to a documentary production to exhibition — took hold.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

A hospital near the border had already staked a fixator, a long metal rod with steel prongs on either end, into her leg to stabilize the bone and help control the bleeding.

Read more on New York Times

With Trump, he says, “the direction would be top-down - he will go straight to Tehran and from there, try to sort out all the different prongs and theatres throughout the Middle East”.

Read more on BBC

The second prong of the campaign involved working directly with the district.

Read more on Los Angeles Times