Meaning

To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public..

Definitions by Sense

1. To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public.
2. To inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy; to snoop.
3. (transitive, obsolete) To peer at (something) closely; also, to look into (a matter, etc.) thoroughly.
4. An act of prying; a close and curious look.
5. A person who is very inquisitive or nosy; a busybody, a nosey parker.
6. (East Anglia, US) A tool for levering; a crowbar, a lever.
7. To use leverage to open, raise, or widen (something); to prise or prize.
8. (figuratively) Usually followed by out (of): to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort.

Example Sentences

[W]omen haue eagles eyes, / To prie euen to the heart, and why not you?

[…] to elude, thus wrapt in miſt / Of midnight vapor glide obſcure, and prie / In every Buſh and brake, where hap may finde / The Serpent ſleeping, […]

And choice of studious friends had he / Of Bolton's dear fraternity: / […] / [I]n their cells with him did pry / For other lore,—through strong desire / Searching the earth with chemic fire: […]

I don't mean to pry, but could you tell me where you got that scarf?

to pry into someone's affairs

Watch thou, and wake when others be aſleepe, / To prie into the ſecrets of the State, […]

We literary hacks are shameless creatures. I believe there's no secret of the human heart into which we wouldn't pry.

The two ship's corporals went among the sailors by the names of Leggs and Pounce; […] Bland, the master-at-arms, ravished with their dexterity in prying out offenders, used to call them his two right hands.

Word Forms

• pries
• prying
• pried

Synonyms for pry

Related Words

When Should You Use Pry?

Use pry when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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