pry
Plural: pries
Noun
- a heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge
- An act of prying; a close and curious look.
- A person who is very inquisitive or nosy; a busybody, a nosey parker.
- A tool for levering; a crowbar, a lever.
Verb
Verb Forms: pried, prying, pries
- To inquire impertinently into someone's private affairs.
- to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open; :
- "Raccoons managed to pry the lid off the garbage pail"
- be nosey
- "Don't pry into my personal matters!"
- search or inquire in a meddlesome way
- make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry
- To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public.
- To inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy; to snoop.
- To peer at (something) closely; also, to look into (a matter, etc.) thoroughly.
- To use leverage to open, raise, or widen (something); to prise or prize.
- Usually followed by out (of): to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort.
Examples
- She tried to pry into her opponent’s rack, hoping to guess their next Scrabble move.
Origin / Etymology
The verb is inherited from Middle English prien, pryen (“to look closely, peer into, pry, spy”) [and other forms], from Old English *prīwan, *prēowian (“to look narrowly, to squint at”), attested by Old English beprīwan, beprēwan (“to wink”); further etymology unknown, but probably akin to Old English *prēowot (“closing of the eyes”), attested only in combination – compare prēowthwīl (“blink or twinkling of an eye, moment”), princ (“a wink”): see prink.
The noun is derived from the verb.
Synonyms
crowbar, horn in, intrude, jimmy, lever, nose, poke, prise, prize, pry bar, wrecking bar, Paul Pry, prybar, prying, quarry, wring
Scrabble Score: 8
pry: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordpry: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
pry: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary