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
This ungraceful fashion was universal at the time, and partly led to the nicknames of roundheads, prick-eared curs, and so forth, which the insolence of the cavaliers liberally bestowed on their political enemies.
From A Legend of Montrose by Scott, Walter, Sir
In an old print of Patrick Sarsfield, Earl of Lucan, there are two wolf-dogs, which are represented as smooth, prick-eared, and with somewhat bushy tails.
From Anecdotes of Dogs by Jesse, Edward
The lop-eared rabbit is a stately beast and less brisk than his prick-eared relations.
From What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games and Pastimes by Fisher, Dorothy Canfield
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.
