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.

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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

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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

The first prong is to reduce the litigation threat that often surrounds the companies that offer these products.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 26, 2026

And that’s the next prong of the attack—that the Fed staff simply isn’t doing that correctly.

From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 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

This brings us to the next behavioral prong of CBT-I: changing your habits for getting in and out of bed.

From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2025

“Oh, all right,” grumbled Fadi, handing her the wooden spoon while he kept the steel fork with the crooked prong.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

For Cliffel, her treatment plan had many prongs.

From BBC ● Aug. 19, 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

The newer models deliver a similar voltage but have a range of 45 feet and 10 metallic prongs instead of two, which can be fired individually to give officers better control and accuracy, Reina said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2023

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

I inserted the prongs into the wall, and the object sent hot air blasting into my face!

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

“We have a two pronged threat to American faith communities,” said Brian Levin, founding director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernadino.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 17, 2023

The blade is sharp enough to cut through dense cheeses, while the pronged tip can be used to pick up individual pieces.

From Salon ● Nov. 6, 2022

Then they opened a small door in each cage and thrust the food through on pronged forks.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers

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

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

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

I'm sitting peacefully in my room at the hotel in Chicago, pronging a few cents' worth of scrambled eggs and reading the morning paper, when the telephone rings.

From The Adventures of Sally by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse