kick against the pricks
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Biblical phrase; see citation below.
Pronunciation[edit]
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb[edit]
kick against the pricks (third-person singular simple present kicks against the pricks, present participle kicking against the pricks, simple past and past participle kicked against the pricks)
- (idiomatic) To kick back (of an animal etc.) against being goaded.
- (idiomatic, figuratively) To struggle against one's fate. [from 14th c.]
- 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts ix:[5], folio clxvj, verso:
- The lorde ſayd / I am Ieſus whom thou perſecuteſt / it ſhalbe harde for the to kycke agaĩſt the pricke.
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “The Young Life of Paul”, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 67:
- Paul was laid up with an attack of bronchitis. He did not mind much. What happened happened, and it was no good kicking against the pricks.
- 2010 December 8, Dan Hancox, The Guardian:
- Middle-class, indie-loving, media-savvy 18-40-year-olds in their tens of thousands joined Facebook groups, signed online petitions, added Twibbons, wrote letters of complaint and politely but efficiently kicked against the pricks.
Translations[edit]
to struggle against one's fate
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