prick
/pɹɪk/noun, verb
prick is spelled P-R-I-C-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, prick means “A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of prick is pricks.
How many letters and syllables are in prick?
| Letters | 5: P-R-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | 4.0 times per million words; the 12,940th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is prick?
Prick appears 4.0 times per million words in written English, the 12,940th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prick?
- /pɹɪk/
- [pʰɹ̠̊ɪk]
Prick has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-prick.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of prick
- pricks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- pricking participle, present
- pricked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small hole or perforation, caused by piercing.
- 2
An indentation or small mark made with a pointed object.
- 3
obsoleteA dot or other diacritical mark used in writing; a point.
- 4
obsoleteA tiny particle; a small amount of something; a jot.
- 5
A small pointed object.
- 6
The experience or feeling of being pierced or punctured by a small, sharp object.
I felt a sharp prick as the nurse took a sample of blood.
- 7
A feeling of remorse.
- 8
slangvulgarThe penis.
verb
- 1
To pierce or puncture slightly.
John hardly felt the needle prick his arm when the adept nurse drew blood.
- 2
To drive a nail into (a horse's foot), so as to cause lameness.
- 3
To shoot without killing.
- 4
To form by piercing or puncturing.
to prick holes in paper
- 5
obsoleteTo mark or denote by a puncture; to designate by pricking; to choose; to mark.
- 6
To mark the surface of (something) with pricks or dots; especially, to trace a ship’s course on (a chart).
- 7
obsoleteTo run a middle seam through the cloth of a sail.
- 8
To fix by the point; to attach or hang by puncturing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Dorn, Stachel, Spitze , Stich, Stechen , Pimmel |
| Portuguese | farpa , picada, pontada , pica, pau , arrogante |
| Spanish | pincho , punzada, piquete, pinchazo , reata, macana |
| French | bite, paf, pine, queue, vit, zob |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prick come from?
From Middle English prik, prikke, from Old English prica, pricu (“a sharp point, minute mark, spot, dot, small portion, prick”), from Proto-West Germanic *prikō, *priku, from Proto-Germanic *prikô, *prikō (“a prick, point”), of uncertain origin, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *breyǵ- (“to scrape, scratch, rub, prickle, chap”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).