prod

present singular third person prods · participle present prodding · participle past prodded · past prodded

1. intransitivetransitiveTo poke, to push, to touch.
2. informaltransitiveTo encourage, to prompt.

   1 more example

   Some of the most beautiful and thus appealing physical theories, including quantum electrodynamics and quantum gravity, have been dogged for decades by infinities that erupt when theorists try to prod their calculations into new domains. Getting rid of these nagging infinities has probably occupied far more effort than was spent in originating the theories.

   2012 January 28, Michael Riordan, “Tackling Infinity”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 1, archived from the original on 30 Apr 2013, page 86

3. transitiveTo prick with a goad.

plural prods

1. A device (now often electrical) used to goad livestock into moving.
2. A prick or stab with such a pointed instrument.
3. A poke.

   "It's your turn," she reminded me, giving me a prod on the shoulder.

4. A light kind of crossbow; a prodd.

   The 125-pound prod (bow) drives bolt at 250 feet per second.

   1983, Popular Mechanics

plural prods

1. abbreviationclippingslanguncountablecomputingClipping of production (“the live environment”).

   We've hit ten million users in prod today.

2. countableslangcomputingA production; a created work.

   Check our BBS for the latest prods.

plural prods

1. IrelandUKderogatoryslangsometimesAlternative letter-case form of Prod (“protestant”).

plural Prods · alternative prod

1. IrelandUKderogatoryslangslursometimesA Protestant, (as termed by Roman Catholics), that is in the context of their religious beliefs, or those who have been born in the Protestant tradition, or sometimes those implied to be Protestant by their political ideology of Irish unionism or Ulster loyalism.

   "I don't want my daughter marrying a dirty Prod," he said.

   2 more examples

   'Could be a lot of things,' McCormack said. 'Still, it narrows things down. Probably a Prod […]'.

   2022, Liam McIlvanney, The Heretic, page 47

   It was sound advice for anyone visiting Northern Ireland in 1999 and remains so today: do not refer to Protestants as “Prods”, or to Catholics as “Fenians” or “Taigs”, and whatever you do don’t refer to your visit as “being out here”.

   [2023 August 23, Rory Carroll, “Files reveal terms ministers were warned not to use in Northern Ireland”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   Synonyms: Orangey, Proddie, proddie, Proddy, proddy, Prottie, prottie, Protty