Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PRICK, n. [Sax. pricca; Sw. prick or preka; tand-preka, a tooth-pick; Ir. prioca.]

1. A slender pointed instrument or substance, which is hard enough to pierce the skin; a goad; a spur. It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. – Acts ix.
2. Sharp stinging pain; remorse. – Shak.
3. A spot or mark at which archers aim. – Carew.
4. A point; a fixed place. – Spenser.
5. A puncture or place entered by a point. – Brown.
6. The print of a hare on the ground.
7. In seamen's language, a small roll; as, a prick of spun yarn; a prick of tobacco.