different between prang vs prank

English

Etymology 1

Originally WWII RAF slang; origin unknown.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pr?ng, IPA^(key): /p?æ?/
• Rhymes: -æ?

Noun

prang (countable and uncountable, plural prangs)

1. (slang, dated) An aeroplane crash.
   • 2011, Bill Marsh, Great South Australia Stories, HarperCollins Publishers, Australia, unnumbered page,

     I remember when a call came through that a crop sprayer had had a plane prang down at Naracoorte, in the south-east of South Australia.

2. (dated, military slang) A bombing raid.
3. (chiefly Australia and New Zealand, Britain, informal) An accident involving a motor vehicle, typically minor and without casualties.
   • 1984, Ian Manning, Beyond walking distance: The Gains from Speed in Australian Urban Travel, page 105,

     The typical prang cost a few hundred dollars in panelbeating charges.

   • 1999, Lydia Laube, Bound for Vietnam, page 209,

     If people drove like that in Australia there would be constant prangs.

   • 2009, Bridget Griffen-Foley, Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio, page 90,

     The drive host, Mark Day, recalls the sinking feeling as he covered an accident on the Tullamarine expressway and wondered what commuters in Sydney would think about hearing all the details of the prang.

4. (US, slang, uncountable) Crack cocaine.

Synonyms

• (minor accident involving a motor vehicle): bingle (Australia), collision, crash, fender-bender (US)

Verb

prang (third-person singular simple present prangs, present participle pranging, simple past and past participle pranged)

1. (slang, dated) To crash an aeroplane.
   • 1946, Frank Clune, Song of India, page 332,

     “We have to wear good socks and boots,” said one pilot with a grin, “—as we often prang in the jungle, and have to walk home.”

2. (intransitive, chiefly Australia and New Zealand, Britain, informal) To crash; to have an accident while controlling a vehicle.
   • 1958, Nation, Issues 1-33, page 56,

     “Didn?t bump nobody,” I sneer.

     “That?s because you were careful,” says the wife. “Your forecast doesn?t say you will prang. It merely says ‘exercise care today,’ which you did.”

3. (transitive, chiefly Australia and New Zealand, Britain, informal) To damage (the vehicle one is driving) in an accident; to have a minor collision with (another motor vehicle).
   • 2004, John Pym (editor), Time Out Film Guide, page 70,

     Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies.

   • 2005, Thomas Marshall, Our Summer in Australia And New Zealand, page 93,

     On Friday, I picked up our camper van, upgraded to a four sleeper so Elysee and I could each find a neutral corner, which I managed to “prang,” navigating the parking lot, within one hour of signing away my house as security.

Derived terms

• pranged

Etymology 2

From Khmer.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pr?ng, IPA^(key): /p?æ?/
• Rhymes: -æ?

Noun

prang (plural prangs)

1. (architecture) A type of tower or spire featured in some Buddhist temples of Thailand and Cambodia.
   • 1995, Joshua Eliot, Thailand and Burma Handbook 1996, page 216,

     The prang is surrounded by walls, which are in turn surrounded by smaller prangs and chedis, some of which are rather precariously supported.

   • 2001, Paul Gray, Lucy Ridout, The Rough Guide to Bangkok, page 119,

     The second platform surrounds the base of the prang proper, whose closed entranceways are guarded by four statues of the Hindu god Indra on his three-headed elephant Erawan.

Anagrams

• pgRNA, pgrna

German

Pronunciation

Verb

prang

1. imperative singular of prangen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of prangen

Malay

Alternative forms

• perang

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /p?ra?/, /pra?/
• Rhymes: -?ra?, -ra?, -a?

Noun

prang

1. Misspelling of perang.

English

Etymology

From Middle English pranken (“to adorn, arrange one's attire”), probably from Middle Dutch pronken, proncken (“to flaunt, make a show, arrange one's attire”). Cognate with Middle Low German prunken (“to flaunt”), German prunken (“to flaunt”), Danish prunke (“to make a show, prank”). Connected also with German prangen (“to make a show, be resplendent”), Dutch prangen (“to squeeze, press”), Danish pragt (“pomp, splendor”), all from Proto-Germanic *prangan?, *prangijan?, *prag- (“to press, squeeze, thring”), from Proto-Indo-European *brAngh- (“to press, squeeze”). Sense of "mischievous act" from earlier verbal sense of "to be crafty or subtle, set in order, adjust". See also prink, prance, prong.

Pronunciation

• enPR: pr?ngk, IPA^(key): /p?æ?k/
• Rhymes: -æ?k

Noun

prank (plural pranks)

1. A practical joke or mischievous trick.

   He pulled a gruesome prank on his sister.

   • The harpies […] played their accustomed pranks.

2. (obsolete) An evil deed; a malicious trick, an act of cruel deception.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:joke

Derived terms

• prankish
• pranksome
• prankster
• pranky

Translations

Verb

prank (third-person singular simple present pranks, present participle pranking, simple past pranked, past participle pranked or (archaic) prankt)

1. (transitive) To perform a practical joke on; to trick.
2. (transitive, slang) To call someone's phone and promptly hang up

   Hey man, prank me when you wanna get picked up.

   I don't have your number in my phone; can you prank me?

3. (transitive) To adorn in a showy manner; to dress or equip ostentatiously.
   • 1748, James Thomson, The Castle of Indolence, B:II

     And there a Sea?on atween June and May,

     Half prankt with Spring, with Summer half imbrown'd,

     A li?tle?s Climate made, where, Sooth to ?ay,

     No living Wight could work, ne cared even for Play.

   • 1880 Dante Gabriel Rosetti, For Spring, by Sandro Botticelli, lines 2–3

     Flora, wanton-eyed

     For birth, and with all flowrets prankt and pied:

4. (intransitive) To make ostentatious show.
   • 1867, Matthew Arnold, "Obermann Once More", in New Poems

     White houses prank where once were huts.

Synonyms

(call and promptly hang up): missed call, missed-call

Translations

Adjective

prank

1. (obsolete) Full of gambols or tricks.

Danish

Noun

prank

1. prank
   • 2016, Klaus Rifbjerg, Falsk forår, Gyldendal A/S (?ISBN)

     Hvad hun tillod sig nu var altså en prank, en joke, noget, der havde med overskud at gøre og slet ikke kunne bringes under de rubrikker, hun lå og forestillede sig.

   • 2014, Nick Clausen, Kanel, klejner og julekaos, Tellerup A/S (?ISBN)

     Bare fordi det er min tur til at finde på en prank gider du ikke gøre dig umage .

   • 2016, Lasse Henriksen, Pil Ingerslev, Benny 1's normale guide til det paranormale, Art People (?ISBN)

     Pranken fik sit eget liv, ...