prang

Etymology 1

Originally World War II Royal Air Force slang; probably imitative.

noun

1. (slang, dated) An aeroplane crash.
   2011, Bill Marsh, Great South Australia Stories, HarperCollins Publishers, Australia, unnumbered page, I remember when a call came through that a crop sprayer had had a plane prang down at Naracoorte, in the south-east of South Australia.
2. (dated, military slang) A bombing raid.
3. (chiefly Australia and New Zealand, UK, informal) An accident involving a motor vehicle, typically minor and without casualties.
   The typical prang cost a few hundred dollars in panelbeating charges. 1984, Ian Manning, Beyond walking distance: The Gains from Speed in Australian Urban Travel, page 105
   If people drove like that in Australia there would be constant prangs. 1999, Lydia Laube, Bound for Vietnam, page 209
   The drive host, Mark Day, recalls the sinking feeling as he covered an accident on the Tullamarine expressway and wondered what commuters in Sydney would think about hearing all the details of the prang. 2009, Bridget Griffen-Foley, Changing Stations: The Story of Australian Commercial Radio, page 90
4. (US, slang, uncountable) Crack cocaine.

verb

1. (slang, dated) To crash an aeroplane.
   “We have to wear good socks and boots,” said one pilot with a grin, “—as we often prang in the jungle, and have to walk home.” 1946, Frank Clune, Song of India, page 332
2. (intransitive, chiefly Australia and New Zealand, UK, informal) To crash; to have an accident while controlling a vehicle.
   “Didn′t bump nobody,” I sneer. “That′s because you were careful,” says the wife. “Your forecast doesn′t say you will prang. It merely says ‘exercise care today,’ which you did.” 1958, Nation, numbers 1-33, page 56
3. (transitive, chiefly Australia and New Zealand, UK, informal) To damage (the vehicle one is driving) in an accident; to have a minor collision with (another motor vehicle).
   Soon after rescuing some silly children from the local caves, the alien prangs his vessel and dies. 2004, John Pym, editor, Time Out Film Guide, page 70
   On Friday, I picked up our camper van, upgraded to a four sleeper so Elysee and I could each find a neutral corner, which I managed to “prang,” navigating the parking lot, within one hour of signing away my house as security. 2005, Thomas Marshall, Our Summer in Australia And New Zealand, page 93

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Khmer ប្រាង្គ (praang).

noun

1. (architecture) A type of tower or spire featured in some Buddhist temples of Cambodia and Thailand.
   The prang is surrounded by walls, which are in turn surrounded by smaller prangs and chedis, some of which are rather precariously supported. 1995, Joshua Eliot, Thailand and Burma Handbook 1996, page 216
   The second platform surrounds the base of the prang proper, whose closed entranceways are guarded by four statues of the Hindu god Indra on his three-headed elephant Erawan. 2001, Paul Gray, Lucy Ridout, The Rough Guide to Bangkok, page 119