pry

¹ American  

[prahy] / praɪ /

verb (used without object)

pried, prying

1. to inquire impertinently or unnecessarily into something.

   to pry into the personal affairs of others.

2. to look closely or curiously; peer; peep.

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noun

• pries
  plural

1. an impertinently inquisitive person.

2. an act of prying.

pry ² American  

[prahy] / praɪ /

verb (used with object)

pried, prying

1. to move, raise, or open by leverage.

2. to get, separate, or ferret out with difficulty.

   to pry a secret out of someone;

   We finally pried them away from the TV.

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noun

• pries
  plural

1. a tool, as a crowbar, for raising, moving, or opening something by leverage.

2. the leverage exerted.

pry ¹ British  

/ praɪ /

verb

1. to make an impertinent or uninvited inquiry (about a private matter, topic, etc)

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noun

1. the act of prying

2. a person who pries

pry ² British  

/ praɪ /

verb

1. to force open by levering

2. to extract or obtain with difficulty

   they had to pry the news out of him

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of pry¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English prien, “look about, peep”; further origin unknown

Origin of pry²

First recorded in 1800–10; back formation from prize ³, taken as a plural noun or 3rd person singular verb

Explanation

To pry is to try and find something out that is none of your business. We all hate people who pry, sticking their nose into our personal affairs, and it is an annoying and disrespectful habit. We are taught as children to ask questions, but sometimes those questions are used to pry, or peek into someone's private business. A nosy person will peek into some else's life the same way one might use a crowbar to pry open a crate (though — alert! — that pry has a different origin). Our word is thought to come from a word related to the Old English verb beprīwan, "to wink," which evolved into the Middle English prie, "to peer in," which gives us today's meaning.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pry pries pried prying

In South Africa, informal miners known locally as zama zamas pry open closed shafts to try their luck extracting what remains of the country’s gold reserves.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

Still, it’s tough to pry focus away from the powerful bull market in stocks.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

And whoever has access to that information has the extraordinary ability to pry into a person’s private life.

From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026

Perez’s case is one of several in which the Civilian Oversight Commission has tried unsuccessfully to pry records out of the Sheriff’s Department.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 2026

“Push the screwdriver through the wire near the bottom,” he said, “and pry up,” We did, and the wire bent a fraction of an inch.

From "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH" by Robert C. O'Brien

Spot gold pries are down 5% at $4,616 a troy ounce while silver is down 7.8% at $78.18 an ounce.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

As the swing shift gets underway, Emmett Jaime pries inked plates off cylinders.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2024

Concerned, she visits a doctor, and when the specialist pries the welt open, hundreds of small spiders crawl out.

From National Geographic ● Jan. 12, 2024

U.S. oil and gas production, however, is on track to reach record highs in 2023 and 2024 due in part to rising oil pries.

From Reuters ● Sep. 18, 2023

“Pry up the floorboards,” orders Volkheimer, but after Neumann Two pries up several and peers down, it’s clear that the only thing under the boards is decades-old horsehair for insulation.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

In 1947, after reports of strong odors were reported, a huge crowd on the street watched as police and city officials pried their way inside to look for the brothers’ bodies.

From Salon ● Jul. 23, 2026

When the packages arrived, I pried open a pack and popped the top mint into my mouth, despite my wife’s admonition, “Are you insane?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

The other way is when those journals are pried from their hands.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

Gilbert’s book has pried open a feminist door that felt long slammed shut.

From Slate ● May 12, 2025

“I pried his fingers off Dismay’s collar when we were in the water. I did it. I did it!”

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

When the camera’s prying eye becomes more intrusive, though, she “feels a great sense of betrayal, that her family is being used and exploited.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 6, 2026

"The deportation machine has kind of turned more surgical, so to speak. There's less activity in the cities where there's a lot more prying eyes," Budiandri said.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

All your traffic is routed through a remote server, masking your IP address and shielding your online activity from prying eyes.

From Salon ● Jun. 10, 2026

The home’s location inside a guard-gated community will also offer Lopez plenty of security, helping to protect her and her children from prying eyes.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 2, 2026

He felt like he was prying and decided not to read any more of the notebooks.

From "The River" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

• extract
• pull
• wrest