prize
1 (prīz)
[Alteration of Middle English pris, value, price, reward; see price.]
noun
- Something offered or won as an award for superiority or victory, as in a contest or competition.
- Something worth striving for; a highly desirable possession.
adjective
- Offered or given as a prize: a prize cup.
- Given a prize, or likely to win a prize: a prize cow.
- Worthy of a prize; first-class: our prize azaleas.
transitive verb: prized, priz·ing, priz·es.
- To value highly; esteem or treasure. See synonyms at appreciate
- To estimate the worth of; evaluate.
prize
2 (prīz)
[Alteration of Middle English prise, from Old French from feminine past participle of prendre, from Latin prehendere, prēndere, to seize.]
noun
- Something seized by force or taken as booty, especially an enemy ship and its cargo captured at sea during wartime.
- The act of seizing; capture.
prize
3,
also prise
(prīz)
[From Middle English prise, instrument for prying, probably from prise, the taking of something; see prize2.]
transitive verb: prized, also prised, priz·ing, pris·ing, priz·es, pris·es
- To move or force with or as if with a lever; pry.
noun
- Leverage.
- Chiefly Southern U.S. Something used as a lever or for prying.