Dictionary

cattle prod en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A stick designed to goad cows, steers, and similar animals in order to prompt them to move in a desired direction, now usually electrified to administer a stimulating shock to the animal.
2. (figuratively) Something used to goad or push someone to act.
   • Social media is only as virtuous as the people using it. With Donald J. Trump in office, using Twitter as a cattle prod to shock the country to attention multiple times a day — often over cultural topics like N.F.L. protests or “Roseanne” — there was a sense that every day on the site was a battle. 2023 July 10, James Poniewozik, “The Twitter Watch Party Is Over”, in The New York Times:

Forms

Synonyms

cattle goad · stock prod

Translations (9)

es aguijada (stick designed to goad animals) · sv pådrivare (stick designed to goad animals) · de Viehstock (stick designed to goad animals) · gl aguillada (stick designed to goad animals) · es picana (stick designed to goad animals) · de Viehtreiberstock (stick designed to goad animals) · sv kofösare (stick designed to goad animals) · ca agullada (stick designed to goad animals) · de Viehtreiber (stick designed to goad animals)

cattle prod en · VERB

Meanings

1. (figuratively, transitive) To goad or push someone to act.
   • (They cattle prodded people trying to get them to move, but to no avail.)
   • (The website locks streams at highest resolution to cattle prod users to pay higher bandwidth fees.)

Forms