prick-eared
Americanadjective
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having the ears upright and pointed.
a prick-eared dog.
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British.
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Informal. (of a man) having the hair cut short.
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Archaic. following or sympathetic to the Puritans or Roundheads.
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Archaic. priggish.
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Etymology
Origin of prick-eared
late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A few years earlier, it was a group of Bedford, N.H., seventh-graders who brought a prick-eared, frizzy-coated breed known as the Chinook to the attention of that state’s legislature.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2012
The canine-feline creature was more than just a head; it was a loose-limbed, graceful body fully eight feet in length, and the red eyes in the prick-eared head were those of a confident killer.
From Voodoo Planet by Norton, Andre
Only, as my memory drew it, it should have been peopled with strange figures-nymphs dancing on the sward, and a prick-eared faun peeping from the covert.
From The Moon Endureth: Tales and Fancies by Buchan, John
Beneath that urbane mask of his, a hunted, wild thing poised in question, mistrustful of the very wind, prick-eared, fangs agleam, eyes grimly apprehensive….
From The False Faces Further Adventures from the History of the Lone Wolf by Vance, Louis Joseph
In the prick-eared variety the ears are carried erect, with very fine ear feathering, and the face fringe is long and thick.
From Dogs and All about Them by Leighton, Robert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
