просак

Russian

Etymology

Either про- (pro-) +‎ сак (sak) or deverbal from проси́ть (prosítʹ).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [prɐˈsak]
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

проса́к • (prosákm inan (genitive проса́ка, nominative plural проса́ки, genitive plural проса́ков)

  1. (dated) rope-making machine
  2. (figuratively, colloquial) an unpleasant, awkward or embarrassing situation
    Похо́же, мы попа́ли в проса́к.Poxóže, my popáli v prosák.Seems like we've got ourselves into a pickle.

Declension

References

  • Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), “просак”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress

Further reading