cattle prod
verb1
Figuratively To goad or push someone to act.
- (They cattle prodded people trying to get them to move, but to no avail.)
- (The website locks streams at highest resolution to cattle prod users to pay higher bandwidth fees.)
cattle prod
noun1
A stick designed to goad cows, steers, and similar animals in order to prompt them to move in a desired direction, now usually electrified to administer a stimulating shock to the animal.
2
Figuratively Something used to goad or push someone to act.
- Social media is only as virtuous as the people using it. With Donald J. Trump in office, using Twitter as a cattle prod to shock the country to attention multiple times a day — often over cultural topics like N.F.L. protests or “Roseanne” — there was a sense that every day on the site was a battle.2023 July 10, James Poniewozik, “The Twitter Watch Party Is Over”, in The New York Times:
- Synonyms
- cattle goad, stock prod