Category:Goad

Goad, n. Etym: [AS. gad; perh. akin to AS. gar a dart, and E. gore. See Gore, v. t.]

Defn: A pointed instrument used to urge on a beast; hence, any necessity that urges or stimulates. The daily goad urging him to the daily toil. Macaulay.

goad Goad, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Goaded; p. pr. & vb. n. Goading.]

Defn: To prick; to drive with a goad; hence, to urge forward, or to rouse by anything pungent, severe, irritating, or inflaming; to stimulate. That temptation that doth goad us on. Shak.

Syn. -- To urge; stimulate; excite; arouse; irritate; incite; instigate.

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Goad - (Heb. malmad, only in Judges 3:31), an instrument used by ploughmen for guiding their oxen. Shamgar slew six hundred Philistines with an ox-goad. "The goad is a formidable weapon. It is sometimes ten feet long, and has a sharp point. We could now see that the feat of Shamgar was not so very wonderful as some have been accustomed to think." In 1 Samuel 13:21, a different Hebrew word is used, dorban, meaning something pointed. The expression (Acts 9:5, omitted in the R.V.), "It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks", i.e., against the goad, was proverbial for unavailing resistance to superior power.