prick up one's ears

prick

P p

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [prik]
- /prɪk ʌp wʌnz ɪər/
- /prɪk ʌp wʌnz ɪər/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [prik]
- /prɪk ʌp wʌnz ɪər/

Definitions of prick up one's ears words

noun prick up one's ears a puncture made by a needle, thorn, or the like. 1
noun prick up one's ears a sharp point; prickle. 1
noun prick up one's ears the act of pricking: the prick of a needle. 1
noun prick up one's ears the state or sensation of being pricked. 1
noun prick up one's ears a sharp pain caused by or as if by being pricked; twinge. 1
noun prick up one's ears the pointed end of a prickspur. 1

See all 29 definitions of prick up one's ears

Information block about the term

Origin of prick up one's ears

First appearance:

before 1000

One of the 6% oldest English words

before 1000; (noun) Middle English prike; Old English prica, price dot, point; (v.) Middle English priken, Old English prician; cognate with Dutch, Low German prik point

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Prick up one's ears

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Prick up one's ears

prick up one's ears popularity

A common word. It’s meaning is known to most children of preschool age. About 91% of English native speakers know the meaning and use the word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

Matching words

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