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That which pricks or pierces; the sharp end of anything, esp. the sharp end of a piercing instrument, as a needle or a pin.

Sharp; having a sharp point; as, a pointed rock.

The act of sharpening.

A small, sharp, quick explosive sound or report; as, to go off with a pop. Addison.

Any Old Word rodent of the genus Hystrix, having the back covered with long, sharp, erectile spines or quills, sometimes a foot long. The common species of Europe and Asia (Hystrix cristata) is the best known.

tor. "Possessors of eternal glory." Law. As if he had been possessor of the whole world. Sharp.

group of tortoises (Potamites, or Trionychoidea) having a soft shell, webbed feet, and a sharp beak. See Trionyx.

. cupido), which inhabits the prairies of the central United States. Applied also to the sharp-tailed grouse. -- Prairie clover (Bot.), any plant of the leguminous genus Petalostemon, having small rosy or white flowers in dense terminal heads or spikes. Several species occur in the prairies of the United States. -- P…

portive action; a ludicrous, merry, or mischievous trick; a caper; a frolic. Spenser. The harpies . . . played their accustomed pranks. Sir W. Raleigh. His pranks have been too broad to bear with. Shak.

Having determinate limitations; exactly or sharply defined or stated; definite; exact; nice; not vague or equivocal; as, precise rules of morality. The law in this point is not precise. Bacon. For the hour precise Exacts our parting hence. Milton.

That which pricks, penetrates, or punctures; a sharp and slender thing; a pointed instrument; a goad; a spur, etc.; a point; a skewer. Pins, wooden pricks, nails, sprigs of rosemary. Shak. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts ix. 5.

One who, or that which, pricks; a pointed instrument; a sharp point; a prickle.

The act of piercing or puncturing with a sharp point. "There is that speaketh like the prickings of a sword." Prov. xii. 18 [1583].

A little prick; a small, sharp point; a fine, sharp process or projection, as from the skin of an animal, the bark of a plant, etc.; a spine. Bacon.

Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shrub. Prickly ash (Bot.), a prickly shrub (Xanthoxylum Americanum) with yellowish flowers appearing with the leaves. All parts of the plant are pungent and aromatic. The southern species is X. Carolinianum. Gray. -- Prickly heat (Med.), a…

Stiff and sharp; prickly. Holland.

Glass with one side smooth and the other side formed into sharp-edged ridges so as to reflect the light that passes through, used at windows to throw the light into the interior.

A sharp-pointed instrument; also, an eelspear. [Prov. Eng.]

To thrust some pointed instrument into; to prick with something sharp; as, to prod a soldier with a bayonet; to prod oxen; hence, to goad, to incite, to worry; as, to prod a student. H. Taylor.

A sharp point; a goad. [ Scot. & Local, U. S.] -- v. t.