prickly

«prickly» in Mova's school dictionary: Covered in sharp points or prickles, like a hedgehog… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

adjective (prickly, pricklier, prickliest)

meaning for a pupil

1) Covered in sharp points or prickles, like a hedgehog, cactus or holly. tree →

2) Giving a stinging or tingling feeling: a prickly jumper. tree →

3) (of a person) Easily annoyed or upset; grumpy. tree →

4) (of a problem) Hard to deal with and likely to cause arguments. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science, prickly plants (cactus, gorse, holly, thistles) use prickles to protect themselves from being eaten; hedgehogs and porcupines have spines. In stories, a prickly character is touchy and grumpy. Health: «prickly heat» is an itchy rash in hot weather. Phrases: «prickly heat», «prickly pear», «prickly as a hedgehog», «a prickly subject».

examples

• The hedgehog is prickly so foxes leave it alone. tree →
• Be careful, the cactus is very prickly. tree →
• This wool jumper feels prickly on my neck. tree →
• Grandad gets prickly when he is tired. tree →
• Money can be a prickly subject. tree →
• Holly leaves are prickly. tree →
• She got prickly heat on holiday in Spain. tree →

note

Comparatives: pricklier, prickliest. Noun «prickle» (a sharp point); «prickliness». Related: «prick» (to make a tiny hole). Trap: «prickly» describes the thing or person, «prickle» is the spine itself.

In the corpora

• Pufferfish swallow water fast to blow up into a prickly ball, and many also have strong poison.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «prickly» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.