Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A thin, pointed, projecting part.
  • noun A branch; a fork.
  • transitive verb To pierce with or as if with a thin, pointed, projecting part.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To stab with or as with a fork.
  • noun A sharp point or a pointed instrument; especially, one of several points which together make up a larger object: as, the prong of a fork; the prong of a deer's antler.
  • noun A hay-fork.
  • noun A fork or branch of a stream or inlet.
  • noun A prawn (?).
  • noun A pang.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A sharp-pointed instrument.
  • noun The tine of a fork, or of a similar instrument.
  • noun A sharp projection, as of an antler.
  • noun The fang of a tooth.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A thin, pointed, projecting part.
  • noun A branch; a fork.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a pointed projection

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English pronge, pointed instrument, pain, from Medieval Latin pronga, of Germanic origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English pronge, perhaps from Middle Low German prange ("stick, restraining device"), from prangen ("to press, pinch"), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)preng (“to wrap up, constrict”), akin to Lithuanian springstù ("to choke, become choked or obstructed"), Latvian sprañgât ("cord, constrict"), Ancient Greek σπαργανόω (sparganóō, "to swaddle"), σπάργανον (spárganon, "swaddling cloth").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word prong.

Examples

  • My boyfriend things the prominent warning about the 4 hour prong is a marketing gimmick.

    She Said You Couldn’t Stay Up | ATTACKERMAN 2008

  • My boyfriend thinks the prominent warning about the 4 hour prong is a marketing gimmick.

    She Said You Couldn’t Stay Up | ATTACKERMAN 2008

  • Without a clear path to ground, which the 3rd prong is supposed to provide, your surge protector will not work.

    3 to 2 prong adapters 2009

  • Without a clear path to ground, which the 3rd prong is supposed to provide, your surge protector will not work.

    3 to 2 prong adapters 2009

  • Without a clear path to ground, which the 3rd prong is supposed to provide, your surge protector will not work.

    3 to 2 prong adapters 2009

  • Without a clear path to ground, which the 3rd prong is supposed to provide, your surge protector will not work.

    3 to 2 prong adapters 2009

  • Without a clear path to ground, which the 3rd prong is supposed to provide, your surge protector will not work.

    3 to 2 prong adapters 2009

  • If the horns are long and that prong is high on the horn it will carry the mass up with it.

    Field judging Pronghorns 2009

  • Without a clear path to ground, which the 3rd prong is supposed to provide, your surge protector will not work.

    3 to 2 prong adapters 2009

  • If the horns are long and that prong is high on the horn it will carry the mass up with it.

    Field judging Pronghorns 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Can a woman prong a man?

    October 6, 2009

  • This reminds me of my Latin dictionary, in high school. For the word facio, one of the definitions was simply

    9. (obscene)

    October 6, 2009