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# prank

noun (a prank, pranks); verb (prank, pranks, pranked, pranking — informal)

«prank» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A prank is a trick played on someone to make people laugh. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#m1)
2. To prank someone means to play such a trick on them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#m2)

### In the lessons

In lessons about truth and tricks, a good prank is harmless and the person tricked can laugh too, like on April Fools' Day; a prank becomes unkind or dangerous when it hurts, scares, embarrasses or bullies someone (pulling a chair away, prank calls to emergency numbers, pranks with food allergies). In stories pranks show cheeky or mischievous characters. Phrases: play a prank on, prank call, April Fools' prank.

### Examples

- My brother played a prank on me and put a rubber spider in my bed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x1)
- We laughed at the April Fools' Day prank. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x2)
- A prank that hurts someone is not funny. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x3)
- Never make prank calls to emergency numbers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x4)
- He pranked his dad by hiding his slippers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x5)
- Pulling a chair away as someone sits down is a dangerous prank. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x6)
- The class clown loved pranks. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x7)
- If a prank upsets someone, say sorry. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x8)
- He sent them into the woods and fields, but instead of looking for a nest they only played pranks on him. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/#x9)

### Note

Countable: pranks. «Play a prank on someone». A prank is not the same as bullying, but repeated pranks against the same person to upset them are bullying. Calling emergency services as a prank is against the law in many places and can stop real emergencies getting help.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «prank» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/prank/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«prank» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/prank.html) on Mova free.