prickle

[ prik-uh l ]

/ ˈprɪk əl /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR prickle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sharp point.

a small, pointed process growing from the bark of a plant.

a sharp process or projection, as from the skin of an animal; a spine.

a pricking sensation.

verb (used with object), prick·led, prick·ling.

to prick lightly.

to cause a pricking or tingling sensation in.

verb (used without object), prick·led, prick·ling.

to tingle as if pricked.

Nearby words

prick-eared, prick-post, pricker, pricket, pricking, prickle, prickle cell, prickle cell layer, prickleback, prickly, prickly ash

Origin of prickle

before 950; Middle English prykel (noun), Old English pricel. See prick, -le

Related forms

un·prick·led, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for prickle

The leaf was described to me as having a prickle upon it, and the flower as of a yellow colour.
Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's ships Adventure and Beagle, between the years 1826 and 1836|Robert FitzRoy
Miss Margot looked as if she might—under provocation—display a prickle or two of her own!
Big Game|Mrs. George de Horne Vaizey
It bears a round Bur, with a sort of Prickle, which is the Seed.
A New Voyage to Carolina|John Lawson
A gasp of amazement, a prickle, a shudder, ran over the skin of that susceptible assembly.
"Persons Unknown"|Virginia Tracy

Not the prickle induced by the enemy installations, it was a real coded call picked up by his sonic, and one he knew.
Key Out of Time|Andre Alice Norton

British Dictionary definitions for prickle

prickle

/ (ˈprɪkəl) /

noun

botany a pointed process arising from the outer layer of a stem, leaf, etc, and containing no woody or conducting tissueCompare thorn (def. 1)

a pricking or stinging sensation

verb

to feel or cause to feel a stinging sensation

(tr) to prick, as with a thorn

Word Origin for prickle

Old English pricel; related to Middle Low German prekel, German Prickel

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012