▪ I. prowl, v.
(praʊl)
Forms: α. 4–6 prolle, (5 pralle), 6–8 proll, prole, 7 prool(e. β. 6–7 proule, prowle, 7–8 proul, 7– prowl.
[ME. proll-en, origin unknown: there is app. no related word outside English. The change to proul, prowl, was at first merely one of spelling (cf. bowl n.1), but has since c 1750 perverted the pronunciation from (proːl, proʊl) to (praʊl).]
1. a. intr. Originally, To go or move about, esp. in search of or looking for something; hence, to go, rove, roam, or wander about, in search of what can be found, esp. of plunder or prey, or with predatory intent. Orig. chiefly of persons; in mod. use (cf. prowling ppl. a., quot. 1667), characteristically of wild beasts, or persons acting like them.
| α c 1386 Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 859 Though ye prolle ay ye shul it neuere fynde Ye been as boold as is Bayard the blynde That blondreth forth. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 415/1 Prollyn, as ratchys, scrutor. 1530 Palsgr. 667/2, I prolle, I go here and there to seke a thyng, je tracasse... The felowe prolleth aboute, but it cometh nat to effecte. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Sept. 160 [Wolves] Priuely prolling two and froe. 1608 Topsell Serpents (1658) 655 Some do prole after Wasps, and kill them. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 413 You..range around the realm without controll Among my sons, for Proselytes to prole. 1735 Somerville Chase i. 309 [Robbers] Then proling far and near, whate'er they seize Becomes their Prey. |
| β 1538 [see prowling vbl. n. β]. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs viii. (Arb.) 68 Whose gredy Pawes, do neuer ceas, in synfull fluds to prowle [rime soule]. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 802 The nightly Wolf, that round th' Enclosure proul'd To leap the Fence; now plots not on the Fold. 1778 F. Burney Diary Aug., I then prowled about to choose some book. 1791 Ibid. 1 Aug., We determined..to prowl to the churchyard, and read the tombstone inscriptions. c 1850 Neale Hymn, ‘Christian, dost thou see them’ i, How the troops of Midian Prowl and prowl around. 1866 Alger Solit. Nat. & Man i. 20 The leopard prowls through the jungle alone. 1888 Besant Inner House v, We have prowled about the old building. |
† b. To search, seek for something (without moving about). Obs. rare.
| c 1460 J. Russell Bk. Nurture 280 Youre hed ne bak ye claw, a fleigh as þaughe ye sought, ne youre heere ye stryke, ne pyke, to pralle for a flesche mought. 1687 New Atlantis iii. 520 Thoughtful and dull..Stood Bavius, proling for his barren Muse. |
† c. fig. To seek for gain or advantage in a mean, grasping, or underhand way; to ‘cadge’. Obs.
| α 1530 [see prowling vbl. n. α]. 1550 Crowley Waie to Wealth Wks. (1872) 145 Purchaisinge and prollynge for benefices. 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. (1596) 261/1 An other pretie practise of the pope to proll for monie, was this. 1669 Marvell Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 272 A Corporation of your dignity dos not proll for advantage upon gentlemen your neighbours. |
| β 1550 Bale Eng. Votaries ii. N ij, This legate..went banketynge and prowlynge from bishope to bishope. 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 129 It is not equall..for a man to liue prowling and shifting by the labours of other men. |
† 2. a. trans. To obtain (something) by stealth, cheating, or petty theft; to get in a clandestine way; to pilfer, to filch. Obs.
| 1530 Proper Dialogue in Rede me, etc. (Arb.) 137 What soeuer we get with sweate and labour That prolle they awaye with their prayour. 1592 Warner Alb. Eng. ix. xlvii. (1612) 220 For from my fault could not, as chanst, the Somner prole a fee. 1622 Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 132 If we found any breach in any wall of a house, we would prie what we could proule from thence. a 1677 Barrow Pope's Suprem. Wks. 1687 I. 183 By how many tricks did he proll money from all parts of Christendom? |
b. intr. To plunder, steal, pilfer. Obs.
| 1571 Campion Hist. Irel. ii. v. (1633) 84 Surfeited with flesh and acquauitae all the Lent long, prolled and pilled insatiably without neede. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 143 The champion robbeth by night, And prowleth and filcheth by day. 1658 W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. ii. 4 That he, who hath no hope of another world, be made to shark and prole to get some of this. |
c. trans. To plunder, rob (a person). Obs.
| 1603 Florio Montaigne 503, I overwhelme and contemne it then in great, by retayle it spoyles and proules me. 1672 Marvell Reh. Transp. I. 111 Were it not for prolling or molesting the People, his Majesty would give Mr. Bayes the Patent for it. |
3. To traverse (a place or region) esp. on the look out for prey; to traverse stealthily. † In quot. 1649, to steal in through (obs.).
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. Poems (Grosart) II. 64 He proules each place, still in new colours deckt, Sucking one's ill, another to infect. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V cclxxv, The invading Brine Prolls everie Seame. 1750 Gray Long Story 45 Who prowl'd the country far and near. 1879 C. M. Yonge Cameos Ser. iv. xx. 213 He prowled the streets in disguise. |
b. Criminals' slang (in U.S.). To examine, search, or inspect (a place or person), esp. before committing a robbery; to ‘case’; to rob.
| 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 67 Prowl, noun... An expeditionary investigation; a survey in transit; a search of the person or of a place in the sense of ‘frisk’; a burglary; a sneak; a saunter. Also used as a verb in the same senses. 1926 J. Black You can't Win xi. 136 I'd rather ‘prowl’ one of them than any business man. Ibid. xx. 318 He magnanimously suggested that I ‘prowl the joint’ he lived in. 1938 in Amer. Speech XIII. 158/1 Store is prowled. 1943 R. Chandler Lady in Lake xii. 71, I went back to the kitchen and prowled the open shelves above and behind the sink. 1977 ‘M. Innes’ Honeybath's Haven xv. 137 Some sort of sneak-thief had conceivably been prowling the dead man's property. |
▪ II. prowl, n.
(praʊl)
[f. prec. vb.]
a. An act or the action of prowling; roaming or roving about, esp. in search of plunder or prey. on or upon the prowl, prowling about; now freq. in search of an amorous partner.
| 1803 Sporting Mag. XXII. 54 A poor miserable thief had been all night upon the prowl. 1836 W. Irving Astoria II. xxviii. 118 The Crow Indians..are apt to be continually on the prowl about the skirts of the mountains. 1876 ‘Annie Thomas’ Blotted out iii. 31 Let us clear off this business as soon as we can, and then go out for a prowl. 1895 19th Cent. Sept. 482 Through all the intricacies of their hunting prowl we followed them. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 600 A figure of middle height on the prowl, evidently, under the arches saluted again, calling: Night! 1946 Sun (Baltimore) 3 July 4/5 That big cat..is reputedly on the prowl again. 1959 W. Brown Cry Kill iii. 31 Not a beauty like Lola Stuart, but good enough to catch the eye of any guy on the prowl. 1966 N.Y. Times Bk. Rev. 27 Mar. 35/1 Including his memorable encounters with an emancipated American college girl on the prowl. 1972 F. Warner Lying Figures ii. 9 Out on the prowl tonight, lover-boy? 1973 ‘E. Peters’ City of Gold & Shadows iii. 45 A normal minor wolf on the prowl, with..an eye cocked for congenial company. |
b. Comb., as prowl car orig. U.S., a police patrol car having a radio link with headquarters; prowl dog = guard dog s.v. guard n. 18.
| 1937 Sun (Baltimore) 6 Sept. 2/7 The man..climbed into the rear seat of our prowl car. 1953 H. Clevely Public Enemy xxix. 229 There's a prowl car outside... You were followed here. 1963 J. Joesten They call it Intelligence iv. xix. 188 A prowl car, manned by Western police, providentially arrived on the scene. 1967 N. Lucas C.I.D. xi. 169 The presence of one of the Austin vans in the area had not passed unnoticed by the alert crew of a Berkshire County Police wireless prowl car. 1971 Islander (Victoria, B.C.) 16 May 11/1 Meantime another prowl car pulled into the yards. 1971 Southerly XXXI. 71 A prowl car told us to switch our parkers on. 1974 W. Garner Big enough Wreath xii. 163 We got patrols. We got prowl dogs. |