pricking

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
prick/prɪk/

▶verb

• 1 press briefly or puncture with a sharp point.

  ■ (prick something out) draw or decorate by making small holes in a surface.

• 2 feel a sensation as though a sharp point were sticking into one.

  ■ cause mental or emotional discomfort to.

• 3 (often prick up) (chiefly of a horse or dog) make (the ears) stand erect when on the alert.

• 4 (prick something out) plant seedlings in small holes made in the earth.

▶noun

• 1 an act of pricking something.

  ■ a small hole or mark made by pricking.

• 2 a sharp pain caused by being pierced with a fine point.

  ■ a sudden feeling of distress, anxiety, etc.

  ■ archaic a goad for oxen.

• 3 vulgar slang a man's penis.

  ■ a stupid, unpleasant, or contemptible man.

– phrases
kick against the pricks hurt oneself by persisting in useless resistance or protest. [with biblical allusion to Acts 9:5.]

– derivatives
pricker noun.

– origin OE pricca (n.), prician (v.), prob. of W. Gmc origin.