"pinprick" meaning in English

See pinprick in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: pinpricks [plural], pin-prick [alternative]
Etymology: From pin + prick. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|pin|prick}} pin + prick Head templates: {{en-noun}} pinprick (plural pinpricks)
  1. An insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point. Translations (an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point): леко убождане (leko uboždane) [neuter] (Bulgarian), Nadelstich [masculine] (German), tűszúrás (Hungarian), прокол (prokol) [masculine] (Russian)
    Sense id: en-pinprick-en-noun-MsoX3s2h Disambiguation of 'an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point': 97 1 2
  2. A mildly annoying wound or damage. Translations (a mildly annoying wound or damage): дребна неприятност (drebna neprijatnost) [feminine] (Bulgarian)
    Sense id: en-pinprick-en-noun-nLi9XB0G Disambiguation of 'a mildly annoying wound or damage': 1 99 1
  3. A very tiny dot.
    Sense id: en-pinprick-en-noun-AaHZqbDb

Verb

Forms: pinpricks [present, singular, third-person], pinpricking [participle, present], pinpricked [participle, past], pinpricked [past], pin-prick [alternative]
Etymology: From pin + prick. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|pin|prick}} pin + prick Head templates: {{en-verb}} pinprick (third-person singular simple present pinpricks, present participle pinpricking, simple past and past participle pinpricked)
  1. (transitive) To produce a jabbing sensation, like a pinprick, in. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-pinprick-en-verb-Y-iRM9Mn Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Greek translations, Terms with Hungarian translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 13 8 4 66 10 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 12 14 5 51 18 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 16 11 5 55 13 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 7 8 3 72 9 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 11 16 7 53 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 12 13 5 53 17 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 12 13 8 52 14 Disambiguation of Terms with Greek translations: 14 13 5 54 16 Disambiguation of Terms with Hungarian translations: 13 16 7 53 12 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 10 11 5 62 13 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 8 9 3 67 13
  2. (transitive) To puncture with a tiny hole or holes. Tags: transitive
    Sense id: en-pinprick-en-verb-oj88y5gR

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pin",
        "3": "prick"
      },
      "expansion": "pin + prick",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From pin + prick.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pinpricks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pin-prick",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pinprick (plural pinpricks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "An insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point."
      ],
      "id": "en-pinprick-en-noun-MsoX3s2h",
      "links": [
        [
          "puncture",
          "puncture"
        ],
        [
          "pin",
          "pin"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "leko uboždane",
          "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
          "tags": [
            "neuter"
          ],
          "word": "леко убождане"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "Nadelstich"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
          "word": "tűszúrás"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "97 1 2",
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "prokol",
          "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "прокол"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A mildly annoying wound or damage."
      ],
      "id": "en-pinprick-en-noun-nLi9XB0G",
      "links": [
        [
          "annoying",
          "annoying"
        ]
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "1 99 1",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "drebna neprijatnost",
          "sense": "a mildly annoying wound or damage",
          "tags": [
            "feminine"
          ],
          "word": "дребна неприятност"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The stars were pinpricks of light in a clear night sky.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A very tiny dot."
      ],
      "id": "en-pinprick-en-noun-AaHZqbDb"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pinprick"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pin",
        "3": "prick"
      },
      "expansion": "pin + prick",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From pin + prick.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pinpricks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pinpricking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pinpricked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pinpricked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pin-prick",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pinprick (third-person singular simple present pinpricks, present participle pinpricking, simple past and past participle pinpricked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "13 8 4 66 10",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 14 5 51 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "16 11 5 55 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "7 8 3 72 9",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 16 7 53 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 13 5 53 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "12 13 8 52 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with German translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 13 5 54 16",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Greek translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 16 7 53 12",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Hungarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "10 11 5 62 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Russian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "8 9 3 67 13",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The water pinpricked her face as she stepped into the shower.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To produce a jabbing sensation, like a pinprick, in."
      ],
      "id": "en-pinprick-en-verb-Y-iRM9Mn",
      "links": [
        [
          "jab",
          "jab"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To produce a jabbing sensation, like a pinprick, in."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 144:",
          "text": "By now it was dark, velvety dark with a moon, a darkness pinpricked by the lights from the landing place now drawing rapidly closer.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 164:",
          "text": "He had always had to repress the urge to pinprick her enthusiasms.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To puncture with a tiny hole or holes."
      ],
      "id": "en-pinprick-en-verb-oj88y5gR",
      "links": [
        [
          "puncture",
          "puncture"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To puncture with a tiny hole or holes."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pinprick"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pin",
        "3": "prick"
      },
      "expansion": "pin + prick",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From pin + prick.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pinpricks",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pin-prick",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pinprick (plural pinpricks)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "An insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "puncture",
          "puncture"
        ],
        [
          "pin",
          "pin"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A mildly annoying wound or damage."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "annoying",
          "annoying"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The stars were pinpricks of light in a clear night sky.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A very tiny dot."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "leko uboždane",
      "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
      "tags": [
        "neuter"
      ],
      "word": "леко убождане"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "Nadelstich"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
      "word": "tűszúrás"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "prokol",
      "sense": "an insignificant puncture made by a pin or similar point",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "прокол"
    },
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "drebna neprijatnost",
      "sense": "a mildly annoying wound or damage",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "дребна неприятност"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pinprick"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Dutch translations",
    "Terms with German translations",
    "Terms with Greek translations",
    "Terms with Hungarian translations",
    "Terms with Russian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pin",
        "3": "prick"
      },
      "expansion": "pin + prick",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From pin + prick.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pinpricks",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pinpricking",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pinpricked",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pinpricked",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "pin-prick",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "pinprick (third-person singular simple present pinpricks, present participle pinpricking, simple past and past participle pinpricked)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with usage examples",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The water pinpricked her face as she stepped into the shower.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To produce a jabbing sensation, like a pinprick, in."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "jab",
          "jab"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To produce a jabbing sensation, like a pinprick, in."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 144:",
          "text": "By now it was dark, velvety dark with a moon, a darkness pinpricked by the lights from the landing place now drawing rapidly closer.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017, Fiona Farrell, Decline and Fall on Savage Street, →ISBN, page 164:",
          "text": "He had always had to repress the urge to pinprick her enthusiasms.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To puncture with a tiny hole or holes."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "puncture",
          "puncture"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(transitive) To puncture with a tiny hole or holes."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "pinprick"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-03-21 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-03-02 using wiktextract (db0bec0 and 633533e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.