prod

verb

1. (transitive)To poke, to push, to touch.
2. (informal, transitive)To encourage, to prompt.

   “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.”

3. (transitive)To prick with a goad.

noun

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.”

5. (abbreviation, alt-of, clipping, slang, uncountable)Clipping of production (“the live environment”).

   “We've hit ten million users in prod today.”

6. (countable, slang)A production; a created work.

   “Check our BBS for the latest prods.”

7. (Ireland, UK, alt-of, derogatory, slang, sometimes)Alternative letter-case form of Prod (“protestant”).
8. (Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang, slur, sometimes)A 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.”

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

   “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”.”