prie

[pree]

noun, verb (used with object) Scot. and North England.

pree.

pry

[prahy]

verb (used without object), pried, pry·ing.

to inquire impertinently or unnecessarily into something: to pry into the personal affairs of others.
to look closely or curiously; peer; peep.

noun, plural pries.

an impertinently inquisitive person.
an act of prying.

Origin of pry

1275–1325; Middle English pryen, prien < ?

pry

[prahy]

verb (used with object), pried, pry·ing.

to move, raise, or open by leverage.
to get, separate, or ferret out with difficulty: to pry a secret out of someone; We finally pried them away from the TV.

noun, plural pries.

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

Origin of pry

1800–10; back formation from prize³, taken as a plural noun or 3rd person singular verb

pree

or prie

[pree]Scot. and North England

noun

a test, trial, or taste; a test by sampling.

verb (used with object), preed, pree·ing.

to try, test, or taste.

Idioms

pree the mouth of, Scot. to kiss.

Origin of pree

1690–1700; shortened form of preive, Middle English preve (noun), preven (v.) < Old French pr(o)eve, preuver; see prove

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for pries

poke, wrest, pull, extract, stare, peek, search, tap, gape, snoop, spy, inquire, hunt, intrude, meddle, investigate, gaze, nose, peer, peep

Examples from the Web for pries

Contemporary Examples of pries

And it pries the door to progress on the peace front a little wider.
Good For Livni And Good For Peace
Brent E. Sasley
February 20, 2013

Historical Examples of pries

He discovers a wart, he pries into a pore; and he calls it knowledge of man.
Imaginary Conversations and Poems
Walter Savage Landor
Some people, when they get an idea, it pries the structure apart.
The Letters Of Mark Twain, Volume 4, 1886-1900
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
He walks about as it were a public place, and he pries everywhere.
Talks To Farmers
Charles Haddon Spurgeon
He who pries into letters for one purpose, may be led to pry into them for another.
Ten Years Among the Mail Bags
James Holbrook
He that keeks (pries) through a keyhole may see what will vex him.
Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources
James Wood

British Dictionary definitions for pries

pry

verb pries, prying or pried

(intr often foll by into) to make an impertinent or uninvited inquiry (about a private matter, topic, etc)

noun plural pries

the act of prying
a person who pries

Word Origin for pry

C14: of unknown origin

pry

verb pries, prying or pried

to force open by levering
US and Canadian to extract or obtain with difficultythey had to pry the news out of him

Equivalent term (in Britain and other countries): prise

Word Origin for pry

C14: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pries

pry

v.1

"look inquisitively," c.1300, from prien "to peer in," of unknown origin, perhaps related to late Old English bepriwan "to wink." Related: Pried; prying. As a noun, "act of prying," from 1750; meaning "inquisitive person" is from 1845.

pry

v.2

"raise by force," 1823, from a noun meaning "instrument for prying, crowbar;" alteration of prize (as though it were a plural) in obsolete sense of "lever" (c.1300), from Old French prise "a taking hold, grasp" (see prize (n.2)).