Prang
noun, verb, slang ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An aeroplane crash. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
"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 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."
- 3 a crash involving a car or plane wordnet
- 4 A bombing raid. countable, dated, slang, uncountable
- 5 An accident involving a motor vehicle, typically minor and without casualties. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, countable, informal, uncountable
"The typical prang cost a few hundred dollars in panelbeating charges."
Show 1 more definition
- 6 Crack cocaine. US, slang, uncountable
- 1 To crash an aeroplane. dated, slang
"“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 crash wordnet
- 3 To crash; to have an accident while controlling a vehicle. Australia, New-Zealand, UK, informal, intransitive
"“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.”"
- 4 To damage (the vehicle one is driving) in an accident; to have a minor collision with (another motor vehicle). Australia, New-Zealand, UK, informal, transitive
"Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies."
Example
More examples"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."
Etymology
Originally World War II Royal Air Force slang; probably imitative.
Borrowed from Khmer ប្រាង្គ (praang).
Related phrases
More for "prang"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.