Literary notes about prickling (AI summary)
In literature, “prickling” is often used to evoke a vivid sensory response that mirrors a character’s inner turmoil or the atmosphere of a scene. The word can capture a physical sensation—a series of tiny, almost imperceptible shocks to the skin, as when fear or excitement causes the hairs to stand on end ([1], [2])—or it can describe the onset of discomfort, such as the eerie feeling of an unseen threat ([3], [4]). At times, its use is almost clinical, pointing to a precise physical reaction, like the nerve stimulation in a medical context ([5], [6]), while in other instances it lends a poetic quality to the narrative, conveying subtle emotional shifts or hints of danger in a manner that is both palpable and compelling ([7], [8]).
- He felt a mounting sensation of scalp-prickling horror.
— from Astounding Stories of Super-Science, August 1930 by Various - I felt prickling shivers run down my backbone.
— from Falcons of Narabedla by Marion Zimmer Bradley - He woke some time later with the prickling feeling of danger on his skin.
— from The Buttoned Sky by Robert W. Krepps - For there had come to him a feeling of fear that had sent the waves of cold trickling and prickling up his spine.
— from Astounding Stories of Super-Science, June, 1930 by Various - Press the ulnar nerve at the elbow, the prickling sensation is referred to the skin on the ulnar side of the hand.
— from A Practical Physiology: A Text-Book for Higher Schools by Albert F. (Albert Franklin) Blaisdell - —Hoarseness is the first symptom noticed, and perhaps slight chilliness, together with a prickling or tickling sensation in the throat.
— from The Home Medical Library, Volume 2 (of 6) - "Snakes!" whispered Rosemary with a sudden prickling of her scalp.
— from Rainbow Hill by Josephine Lawrence - Then a prickling twitched the skin between Loudon's shoulders, and he experienced a curious species of exhilaration.
— from Paradise Bend by William Patterson White
