Prick·ly, a. Full of sharp points or prickles; armed or covered with prickles; as, a prickly shrub.
 Prickly heat Med., a noncontagious cutaneous eruption of red pimples, attended with intense itching and tingling of the parts affected. It is due to inflammation of the sweat glands, and is often brought on by overheating the skin in hot weather.
 Prickly pear Bot., a name given to several plants of the cactaceous genus Opuntia, American plants consisting of fleshy, leafless, usually flattened, and often prickly joints inserted upon each other. The sessile flowers have many petals and numerous stamens. The edible fruit is a large pear-shaped berry containing many flattish seeds. The common species of the Northern Atlantic States is Opuntia vulgaris.  In the South and West are many others, and in tropical America more than a hundred more.  Opuntia vulgaris, Opuntia Ficus-Indica, and Opuntia Tuna are abundantly introduced in the Mediterranean region, and Opuntia Dillenii has become common in India.
 Prickly pole Bot., a West Indian palm (Bactris Plumierana), the slender trunk of which bears many rings of long black prickles.
 Prickly withe Bot., a West Indian cactaceous plant (Cereus triangularis) having prickly, slender, climbing, triangular stems.
 Prickly rat Zool., any one of several species of South American burrowing rodents belonging to Ctenomys and allied genera. The hair is usually intermingled with sharp spines.
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 Tu·na n. Bot. The Opuntia Tuna. See Prickly pear, under Prickly.
 prickly pear
      n 1: cacti having spiny flat joints and oval fruit that is edible
           in some species; often used as food for stock [syn: prickly
           pear cactus]
      2: round or pear-shaped spiny fruit of any of various prickly
         pear cacti