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Glite Dictionary
🕯️ A candle holder 🦌 A young male deer
pricket

pricket

9.9
A sharp metal spike that holds a candle
  • noun
  • /ˈprɪkɪt/
  • Archaic
translation icon : portacandelas
  • She polished the brass pricket until it gleamed in the candlelight.

Examples

  • The old candelabra had a beautiful pricket for each candle.

  • The ancient church was lit by candles held upright on a sturdy pricket.

  • A single taper burned on a pricket on the mantelpiece, casting long shadows across the room.

  • I found several prickets in the antique shop.

  • A single taper burned on a pricket on the mantelpiece, casting long shadows across the room.

  • She polished the brass pricket until it gleamed in the candlelight.

  • The ancient church was lit by candles held upright on a sturdy pricket.

How Pointed

stake
167 4.8
spike
58 3.6
pricket
  • Archaic
9.9
tack
17 2.2

Surface Forms

pricket singular
prickets plural

Morphology

pricket = prick (semi-transparent) = prick + et

The form is clearly built from 'prick' plus a diminutive suffix, but the specific meaning as a candle holder is somewhat lexicalized.

Etymology

Pricket comes from the word prick, which means 'to pierce' or 'point'. So a pricket is a small metal spike that holds a candle upright — imagine a little 'prick' keeping the candle in place.