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prang

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prang¹

  • /ˈpɹæŋ/
  • [ˈpʰɹʷæŋ]
  • /ˈpɹeɪ̯ŋ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɹʷeɪ̯ŋ] Canada, US
  • /ˈpɹɛ̃ŋ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɹʷɛ̃ŋ] Canada, US

Rhymes with -æŋ

Where it comes from

Originally World War II Royal Air Force slang; probably imitative.

noun prangs

  1. countable, dated, slang, uncountable 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. countable, dated, slang, uncountable A bombing raid.
  3. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, countable, informal, uncountable An accident involving a motor vehicle, typically minor and without casualties. The typical prang cost a few hundred dollars in panelbeating charges.

    Similar: collision, crash, bingle, fender-bender, shunt

  4. US, slang, uncountable Crack cocaine.

verb prangs · pranging · pranged

  1. dated, slang To crash an aeroplane. “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. Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal, intransitive To crash; to have an accident while controlling a vehicle. “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. Australia, New Zealand, UK, informal, transitive To damage (the vehicle one is driving) in an accident; to have a minor collision with (another motor vehicle). Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies.

prang²

  • /ˈpɹæŋ/
  • [ˈpʰɹʷæŋ]
  • /ˈpɹeɪ̯ŋ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɹʷeɪ̯ŋ] Canada, US
  • /ˈpɹɛ̃ŋ/ Canada, US
  • [ˈpʰɹʷɛ̃ŋ] Canada, US

Rhymes with -æŋ

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Khmer ប្រាង្គ (praang).

noun prangs

  1. A type of tower or spire featured in some Buddhist temples of Cambodia and Thailand. The prang is surrounded by walls, which are in turn surrounded by smaller prangs and chedis, some of which are rather precariously supported.

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MLA

"prang." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prang. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prang. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prang

Chicago

"prang." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prang.

BibTeX
@misc{prang_2026,
  title = {prang},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prang},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}