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prank 英 [præŋk] 美 [præŋk]
SAT GRE
外刊例句
It bombards users with self-repeating clips. It forms a genre of quick-hit entertainment: a prank, a dare, a teenager looking pretty.
它用循环播放的短视频轰炸用户，形成了一种短平快的娱乐类型：恶作剧、大冒险、看起来很漂亮的少男少女。
——《经济学人》
A good prank, of course, involves good stagecraft. But it also requires emotional intuition.
当然，一个好的恶作剧需要好的舞台技巧。但它也需要情感直觉。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[noun] a practical joke or mischievous act
[名词] 恶作剧
深入解读
Prank 一词不仅与小站（微信公众号：田间小站）上周推送的 yank 同结尾，更与熟词僻义栏目中推送过的 plank 形似，只隔第二个字母不同。
该词词源不详，虽然也曾用来表示过“恶意行为”之类的含义，但现在主要用作名词表示“恶作剧、胡闹”或者说令人难堪的“玩笑”，侧重指旨在得到乐趣或产生滑稽效果的戏耍、捉弄、开玩笑等恶作剧行为，而非造成伤害或损害的恶意行为，比如：
他生来就是个有设计天赋的机械师。他读书时总是搞恶作剧捉弄老师。
He was a born mechanic with a flair for design. When he was at school he was always playing pranks on his teachers.
用作动词时， prank 相应表示对某人“恶作剧、胡闹、开过分的玩笑”，比如：
独行其是的导演终于明白自己被人恶作剧了。
The maverick director finally realized he'd been pranked.
名著用例
The frankness of the urchin girl, the honesty of latrine-cleaners, made Ayooba sick; he told her she had a soul composed of pig-droppings, and a tongue caked with excrement also; and in the throes of his jealousy he devised the prank of the jump-leads, the trick of the electrified urinal.
这淘气的扫厕所的丫头老老实实，直言不讳，使得阿由巴恶心得要命。他同她说，她的灵魂里面全是猪粪，舌头上也全是屎。他醋意大发之时，想到了跨接电线的恶作剧，也就是在小便池通上电流。
出自印裔英国作家萨尔曼·鲁西迪（Salman Rushdie，又译萨尔曼·拉什迪）在1981年出版的长篇小说《午夜之子》（Midnight's Children）。
同近义词
caper: an activity or escapade, typically one that is illicit or ridiculous
escapade: an act or incident involving excitement, daring, or adventure
dido: a mischievous trick or prank