▪ I. prod, n.1
(prɒd)
[f. prod v.]
1. a. An act of prodding; a thrust with some pointed instrument; a poke, a stab.
| 1802 R. Anderson Cumberld. Ball. 42 Come, Jobby, gi'e the fire a prod, Then steek the entry duir. 1822 Hogg Perils of Man I. x. 247 Ane may ward a blow at the breast, but a prod at the back's no fair. 1849 Sidonia Sorc. II. 47 Giving many of them a sharp prod on the shoulder. 1864 Daily Tel. 6 Aug., The prisoner..made what he called a ‘prod’ (thrust) at him with his bayonet. 1886 Hall Caine Son of Hagar i. vii, Prompted by sundry prods from the elbow of a little damsel by his side. |
b. on the prod: looking out for something to prod; on the attack, on the offensive. N. Amer. colloq.
| a 1904 A. Adams Log Cowboy ix, When he [a man] came near enough to us, we could see that he was angry and on the prod. Ibid. xi, Several steers showed fight, and when released went on the prod for the first thing in sight. 1910 B. Edwards in H. A. Dempsey Best of Bob Edwards (1975) v. 96 The old man was on the prod. 1947 B. A. De Voto Across Wide Missouri 26 Not only the Arikaras but the Blackfeet were on the prod. 1962 [see ornery]. |
2. a. A name given to various pointed instruments, as a goad, a skewer, a brad, a thatcher's pin, etc.
| 1787 Grose Provinc. Gloss., Prod, an awl. 1808 Jamieson, Prod, a pin of wood. Ibid., Prod, Craw-prod, a pin fixed in the top of a gable, to which the ropes, fastening the roof of a cottage, were tied. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Prod, a prick, a skewer. 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Prod, a goad. Ibid., Prod, an iron pin fixed in pattens. Ibid., Prod, a short stake driven in the ground. 1855 Robinson Whitby Gloss., Prod, an iron point at the end of a stick. ‘An ox prod’, an ox goad. 1873 Dixon Two Queens I. ii. iv. 92 To drive more soldiers to his camp, he wanted sharper spurs and stronger prods. |
b. Founding. Any of a number of pointed projections, intended to hold the loam, on the flat metal base used for preparing a loam mould.
| 1888 Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 267 The pyramidal or conical points cast on loam and core plates for the retention of the loam are termed prods. 1889 J. G. Horner Pract. Iron Founding viii. 103 A plate..is cast, studded over with ‘prods’ to hold the loam which is swept over its face. 1923 ― Mod. Ironfoundry vii. 65 Prods are cast on many loam mould plates. Generally, they occur on one side only, and the pattern prods are mounted in a strip of wood, provided with a handle. |
▪ II. prod, n.2 slang.
[app. a variant of prad.]
An (old) horse.
| 1891 E. Kinglake Australian at H. 119 The contemptuous terms..have led Mr. Newcome to suppose that his mount is most likely the quietest old ‘prod’ on the place. 1900 G. Elson in Academy 4 Aug. 91/1 The horse was a prod, the cart a drag. |
▪ III. prod, v.
(prɒd)
[Known from 1535; there is no related word in the cognate langs. Perh. of onomatopœic origin, related on one side to prog, proke, prick, and on the other to brod (all of which express piercing or stabbing action of some kind).
The word has been thought to enter into the OE. comb. prod-bore, prot-bore (dative), in Rushworth Gospels, Matt. xi. 16, xx. 3, as the gloss on foro ‘in the market-place’, but which has been conjectured to mean ‘auger’ or ‘boring-tool’ (cf. OE. bor borer, gimlet), the L. having been erroneously connected by the glossator with L. foro I bore.]
1. trans. To thrust or stab; to poke with a pointed instrument, or with the end of a stick.
| 1535 Coverdale Ecclus. xxxviii. 25 He that holdeth y⊇ plough, & hath pleasure in proddynge & dryuynge y⊇ oxen. c 1712 in Hogg Jacobite Relics (1819) I. 70 Ane proddit her in the lisk, Anither aneath the tail. 1828 Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), Prod, Proddle, to goad. 1854 Thackeray Rose & Ring xvii, With his fairy sword..his Majesty kept poking and prodding Padella in the back. 1855 ― Newcomes xlvii, A physiologist..prods down this butterfly with a pin. 1861 Ramsay Remin. Ser. ii. 59 Please tak a brog and prod him weel and let the wind out o' him. 1887 Huxley in Life (1900) II. xi. 184, I..have vitality enough to kick..when prodded. |
b. fig. To goad mentally; to stir up, instigate, incite; to irritate.
| 1871 J. R. Green Lett. iii. (1901) 295 The excitement of trying..to prod them into action. 1890 Spectator 4 Oct. 429/2 You complain of Italy,—well, leave off prodding her. 1899 Daily News 6 June 2/2 Poor little things!.. I felt it was cruelty to even prod them with my few questions. |
2. intr. To thrust, to poke. Const. in, into, at.
| 1696 Money masters all Things (1698) 94 The stinking Gold⁓finder with his white Rod, In common or in private Jakes will prod. 1859 Sat. Rev. 10 Dec. 705/2 To prod into the fat sides of the Hereford ox or Devon heifer. 1866 Fitzpatrick Sham Sqr. 112 Assailed by them all, and in stepping back, fell; they prodding at him. |
3. trans. To make by prodding.
| 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. x, The lady has prodded little spirting holes in the damp sand..with her parasol. |
Hence ˈprodded ppl. a., ˈprodding vbl. n.
| 1879 G. Meredith Egoist xlvii, Neat as a prodded eel on a pair of prongs. 1883 E. Ingersoll in Harper's Mag. Jan. 206/1 Under resounding thwacks and proddings of an iron-tipped goad, the..cattle snake the log endwise down the hill. 1898 L. Stephen Stud. Biogr. II. iv. 157 You were subject to a vigorous course of prodding and rousing. |