Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to poke about for food or to scavenge; thus on the prog, scavenging.

1641		Milton Ref. touching Church Discipline in England in Works III (1851) 64: Yet this most mild, though withall dredfull, and inviable Prerogative [...] servs for nothing with them, but to prog, and pandar for fees.
1649		Milton Tenure Kings and Magistrates (1650) 46: They fell to progging and solliciting the Parlament.
1655		Fuller Church Hist. of Britain Bk V n.p.: Pandulf, an Italian and Pope’s legate, a perfect artist in progging for money [F&H].
1669		R. L’Estrange Fables of Aesop LII 52: She [a lark] went out Progging for Provisions.
1692		C. Gildon Dialogue from Hell of Cuckoldom 17: Was it my Duty to keep and maintain them after they were of sufficient bigness to prog for themselves?
1705–07		N. Ward Hudibras Redivivus I:5 4: Young Drunkards reeling, Bayliffs dogging, / Old Strumpets plying, Mumpers progging.
1785		‘Peter Pindar’ More Lyric Odes to the Royal Academicians VII 19: A hungry dog, while progging for a dinner, Espy’d some liver.
1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1828		N.-Y. Flagellator 6 Sept. 32/2: Let us prog less for gifts, and pray more for grace.
1852		Kendal Mercury 3 Apr. 6/2: Vy, he’s second to no tyke on the pad for progging (stealing meat); ye should see him with a dollop of bee’s-wax (cheese) from a grubbing crib (provision store).
1879		‘’Arry on the River’ Punch 9 Aug. 57/1: Some prigs as wos progging two tables afore us.
1890		Dead Bird (Sydney) 2 Aug. 6/1: He seized the youth who had been progging bricks out of the wall.
1997		Share Slanguage.

2. (Aus.) to provide oneself with food.

1894

Truth (Sydney) 8 July 1/7: 12s 6d a week, to bed himself, to prog himself, to clothe himself, [...] and, perchance, to smoke.

3. to poke.

1908

L. Doyle Ballygullion 84: ‘What’s to be done?’ sez he, afther he’d progged it for five minits.