to prang
1
9.9
To crash a car in a small accident that causes little damage
- verb
- /præŋ/
- UK
:
chocar
Examples
-
Gradually, I drifted off to sleep... ...pranging ducks on the wing and getting off spectacular hip shots.
-
He pranged his car into a lamppost while trying to park.
-
She was upset after pranging her father's vehicle on the way home.
-
During the driving lesson, I pranged the instructor's car by backing into a curb.
Synonyms
crash
vsto prang
652
2.3
A violent collision of vehicles like cars or planes that causes damage
is a milder informal vehicle accident often a small minor collision
How Severe
Surface Forms
Etymology
Prang as a verb comes from the same idea of copying the noise of a small crash, like 'bang'. One popular story says pilots used a Malay word perang meaning 'war', but we are not certain. So, to prang something is to crash it a little, as in a small car accident.