\Prick"ly\, a.
Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with
prickles; as, a prickly shrub.
{Prickly ash} (Bot.), a prickly shrub ({Xanthoxylum
   Americanum}) with yellowish flowers appearing with the
   leaves. All parts of the plant are pungent and aromatic.
   The southern species is {X. Carolinianum}. --Gray.
{Prickly heat} (Med.), a noncontagious cutaneous eruption of
   red pimples, attended with intense itching and tingling of
   the parts affected. It is due to inflammation of the sweat
   glands, and is often brought on by overheating the skin in
   hot weather.
{Prickly pear} (Bot.), a name given to several plants of the
   cactaceous genus {Opuntia}, American plants consisting of
   fleshy, leafless, usually flattened, and often prickly
   joints inserted upon each other. The sessile flowers have
   many petals and numerous stamens. The edible fruit is a
   large pear-shaped berry containing many flattish seeds.
   The common species of the Northern Atlantic States is
   {Opuntia vulgaris}. In the South and West are many others,
   and in tropical America more than a hundred more. {O.
   vulgaris}, {O. Ficus-Indica}, and {O. Tuna} are abundantly
   introduced in the Mediterranean region, and {O. Dillenii}
   has become common in India.
{Prickly pole} (Bot.), a West Indian palm ({Bactris
   Plumierana}), the slender trunk of which bears many rings
   of long black prickles.
{Prickly withe} (Bot.), a West Indian cactaceous plant
   ({Cereus triangularis}) having prickly, slender, climbing,
   triangular stems.
{Prickly rat} (Zo["o]l.), any one of several species of South
   American burrowing rodents belonging to {Ctenomys} and
   allied genera. The hair is usually intermingled with sharp
   spines.