prank
part of speech
noun (a prank, pranks); verb (prank, pranks, pranked, pranking — informal)
meaning for a pupil
1) A prank is a trick played on someone to make people laugh. tree →
2) To prank someone means to play such a trick on them. tree →
sense in the lessons
In lessons about truth and tricks, a good prank is harmless and the person tricked can laugh too, like on April Fools' Day; a prank becomes unkind or dangerous when it hurts, scares, embarrasses or bullies someone (pulling a chair away, prank calls to emergency numbers, pranks with food allergies). In stories pranks show cheeky or mischievous characters. Phrases: play a prank on, prank call, April Fools' prank.
examples
- My brother played a prank on me and put a rubber spider in my bed. tree →
- We laughed at the April Fools' Day prank. tree →
- A prank that hurts someone is not funny. tree →
- Never make prank calls to emergency numbers. tree →
- He pranked his dad by hiding his slippers. tree →
- Pulling a chair away as someone sits down is a dangerous prank. tree →
- The class clown loved pranks. tree →
- If a prank upsets someone, say sorry. tree →
- He sent them into the woods and fields, but instead of looking for a nest they only played pranks on him. tree →
note
Countable: pranks. «Play a prank on someone». A prank is not the same as bullying, but repeated pranks against the same person to upset them are bullying. Calling emergency services as a prank is against the law in many places and can stop real emergencies getting help.
In the corpora
- Prank or silly calls to emergency numbers can stop someone in real danger getting help.
- Before any prank, ask: Could anyone get hurt?
- A prank that hurts someone is no longer a joke.
- A harmless prank is one where everyone laughs, including the person pranked, and nobody is harmed.
- A prank that spoils someone's food or day is not funny to them.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «prank» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.