Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🫨 To tingle 🌹 A small spike 🍴 To poke holes
to prickle

to prickle

4 4.0
Cause a small stinging or tingling feeling on the skin
  • verb
  • /ˈprɪkəl/
translation icon : cosquillear
  • As they climbed those steps in single file, Tamborel's skin began to prickle in a strange, familiar way.
  • skin prickled
  • neck prickled
  • scalp prickled

Examples

  • Suddenly, Troi felt an unsettling sensation of being watched prickling down her spine.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • The mask felt suddenly suffocating on his face, and hunger prickled along his jaw.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Her hair prickled as she raised her head and saw a man standing before her.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The back of her neck prickled with excitement as she began following the trail upward.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • "Her tone was kind and friendly, and Janet's skin prickled all over.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The small hairs on the back of her neck prickled; the graying hair above seemed to crackle with electricity.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • That's when Raed became aware of a prickling sensation, a cloud of something uncomfortably tingly swimming over him.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • As she stood in the cold wind, a chill began to prickle her skin.

  • He felt a sharp sensation prickle at the back of his neck, making him turn around.

  • The sudden news caused a nervous prickle of anxiety to spread through her stomach.

Synonyms

to bite
vsto prickle
92 3.1

To cause a sharp, stinging pain, often from cold or wind

is more a tingling sensation as if lightly touched rather than harsh pain
to tingle
vsto prickle
43 3.5

To have a small prickly feeling on the skin often from excitement or cold

is a stronger physical stinging feeling as if touched by something sharp
to smart
vsto prickle
19 7.4

To feel a sharp, stinging pain

is more a tingling or mild stinging feeling than strong pain
to prick
vsto prickle
14 4.7

To cause a small sharp pain like a sting

is only about a physical stinging or tingling as from a sharp touch
to vellicate
vsto prickle
  • Specialized
9.9

To touch the skin lightly to make it tingle or twitch

is a stinging or tingling feeling as if touched by something sharp

Antonyms

to relieve
166 2.3

Make pain, stress, or worry less

to soothe
63 3.4

To make someone feel calmer or reduce their pain

Compounds

prickle cell
  • Specialized
8.8

A cell in the lower skin layer with spiny parts that join nearby cells

prickle-weed
  • US
9.9

A tall prairie plant with groups of small white flowers and prickly stems

How Stinging

to burn
706 1.8
sting
64 1.4
to prickle
4 4.0
to tingle
43 3.5

Surface Forms

prickle infinitive
prickled past
prickled past participle
prickling present participle
prickles third person singular

Morphology

prickle = prick (transparent) = prick + le

Derived by productive suffixation from 'prick' meaning a small or slight prick or stinging sensation.

Etymology

Prickle is related to the simple verb prick, which means 'to pierce or sting with a small point'. Think of tiny pins touching your skin and making it tingle or sting. That's why to prickle is to cause that sharp, tingling feeling.