prong

American  

[prawng, prong] / prɔŋ, prɒŋ /

noun

• prongs
  plural

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)

• prongs,
  present (3rd person singular)
• pronged,
  past participle,  past
• pronging
  present participle

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

2. to supply with prongs.

prong British  

/ 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

Derived Forms

• pronged
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• prongs
  plural

Participles

• pronging
  present
• pronged
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• prong
  simple
• prongs
  simple
• have pronged
  perfect
• has pronged
  perfect
• am pronging
  progressive
• are pronging
  progressive
• is pronging
  progressive
• have been pronging
  perfect progressive
• has been pronging
  perfect progressive

Past

• pronged
  simple
• had pronged
  perfect
• was pronging
  progressive
• were pronging
  progressive
• had been pronging
  perfect progressive

Future

• will prong
  simple
• will have pronged
  perfect
• will be pronging
  progressive
• will have been pronging
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of prong

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

Explanation

A prong, like a spike, a tine, or a spoke, is something that sticks out and is pointy. The prongs of your fork are useful for spearing food and delivering it to your mouth. Besides forks, many other objects have prongs, from hoes and rakes to electrical plugs to an animal's horns or antlers (in fact there's a specific group of antelopes commonly called pronghorns). Before it was spelled prong, the word was prange, "pointed instrument," from the Anglo-Latin pronga, "pointed tool," and possibly the Germanic prange, "stick."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

prong prongs pronged pronging

Requiring only the first prong, she said, would obliterate any need for agents to make an assessment of a person’s ties to the community.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The second prong is to clarify that these products can serve as a default investment option.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026

On Tuesday, though, Gorsuch added a new prong to the test: State officials, he wrote, must provide “voluntary and knowing consent” to be sued if they violate rights established under the spending clause.

From Slate ● Jun. 23, 2026

Close to 60 defendants have been convicted, and federal prosecutors last week charged the 78th person in a prong of the cases that authorities called “the largest Covid-19 fraud scheme in the country.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 5, 2025

He could not help noticing that Dick, busy gouging under his fingernails with a fork prong, was uninterested in his dream.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote

Bureau of Prisons officials then detained Anderson and searched his bag, where they found a large "barbeque type fork" with two prongs and a tool that resembles a pizza cutter.

From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026

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.

From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2024

After talking for the better part of an hour with Spikes, the exiled and now returned king of MoviePass, I gleaned that the company’s case for future success has five prongs.

From Slate ● Jun. 17, 2023

The unity agenda is a bundle of proposed actions with four prongs: beating the opioid epidemic, tackling mental health issues, supporting veterans and ending cancer.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 7, 2023

Then I noticed several holes in the wall that were the same size as the silver prongs on the tails.

From "Klawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat" by Johnny Marciano and Emily Chenoweth

Standing on four pronged feet at the junction of two rivers, O’Donnell + Tuomey’s five-story design resembles a giant chipped molar.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Welsing says her office uses a three pronged approach to solving the problem of gun violence: prevention, intervention, and healing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 11, 2024

It's two pronged: people you love, and taking care of those relationships, which requires work and intentionality and thoughtfulness and communication.

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2023

Hobbled by a knee problem, Francis leaned on a walking stick with a pronged support base to inch forward for a better view of the crowd below.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 25, 2022

A curious pronged symbol had been stamped onto the front.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

Indeed, the fact that we still use these ancient implements for pronging and slicing made me realise how little things change.

From The Guardian ● Jun. 18, 2012

About now,' said Mr Birdsey, looking at his watch, 'I guess they'll be pronging the hors d'oeuvres and gazing at the empty chair.

From The Man with Two Left Feet And Other Stories by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

No sir, no,' he continued, pronging another onion; 'I have some regard for the hinterest o' my master.

From Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour by Robert Smith Surtees

While he was speaking he was pronging away with his spear down the companion-hatch, and the growling grew louder and fiercer.

From Peter the Whaler by Henry Austin

No tail-twisting is necessary - no iron pronging is necessary.

From Reprinted Pieces by Charles Dickens