pricker noun. ['prɪkǝ] ME.
[from PRICK verb + -ER¹.]
1. A rider; spec. (a) a light horseman employed as a skirmisher or scout; (b) (more fully yeoman pricker) a mounted attendant at a hunt. Now arch. or Hist. ME.

2. A person who drives or goads an animal etc.; fig. a person who incites or provokes another. LME.

3. A sharply pointed instrument for pricking or piercing; an awl, a prong. LME.

4. The basking shark, Cetorhinus maximus, so called from its habit of swimming with its dorsal fin projecting out of the water. Also, the spur-dog, Squalus acanthias. obsolete exc. dial. E18.

5. A thorn or spine on a plant. dial. & US colloq. L19.
Phrases: get the pricker, have the pricker Austral. & NZ slang become or be angry.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲