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Glite Dictionary
to prick up

to prick up

3 4.9
Ears suddenly point up when an animal hears something and becomes alert
  • phrasal verb
  • /prɪk ʌp/
translation icon : erguirse
  • "The dog pricked up its ears and slunk over to him."
  • the ears pricked up
  • pricked up at the sound

Anytime you hear the the F word, it should prick up your ears and understand what it really means.

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Examples

  • Shortly, Babe's eyes flickered open and her ears pricked up.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • Doug's ears pricked up at this, and he felt a familiar chill creeping down his back.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The horse pricked up her ears and turned toward the sound.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Home Run stood still for several seconds and pricked up his ears as if he, too, heard the music.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • As they were talking, a dog that had been lying asleep raised his head and pricked up his ears.

    Academic text (2010)

  • Suddenly, Rhonwyn's ears pricked up at the sound of dogs baying in the distance.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Rex pricks up his ears momentarily, sniffs, and begins rooting among the leaves.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • When she heard the rustling in the bushes, her ears pricked up in curiosity.

  • The cat's ears pricked up as it heard the sound of the can opener.

  • His ears pricked up when he caught the mention of his favorite band on the radio.

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

How Alert

to prick up
3 4.9
to notice
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

prick up infinitive
pricked up past
pricked up past participle
pricking up present participle
pricks up third person singular

Morphology

prick + up

The particle 'up' clearly signals raising or upward movement, so part of the meaning is transparent; however 'prick' in this sense means 'to make point/erect' (not the more common sense 'to pierce'), so the full meaning ('ears stand erect') is not completely predictable from a learner's likely knowledge of 'prick'. Because the directional composition is clear but the verb sense is specialized/metaphorical, a B1 learner who only knows the common senses may need prior exposure.

Etymology

Prick up comes from the image of animals suddenly lifting their ears, with prick showing a quick, small movement and up meaning raised. When a dog or horse hears a sound and pricks up its ears, it becomes 'alert' and ready to listen, so the phrase means 'to pay sudden attention'.