Meaning

5 senses

  1. (intransitive)To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public.

    genau hinsehen, genau nachsehen

  2. (figuratively, intransitive)To inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy; to snoop.

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

    to pry into someone's affairs

    schnüffeln

    подсма́триватьpodsmátrivatʹ, следи́тьsledítʹ, шпио́нитьšpiónitʹ

  3. (transitive)To use leverage to open, raise, or widen (something); to prise or prize.

    aufhebeln

  4. (figuratively, transitive)Usually followed by out (of): to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort.

    to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open

  5. (obsolete, transitive)To peer at (something) closely; also, to look into (a matter, etc.) thoroughly.

Examples

55 sentences

  1. Please don't pry into my personal affairs.

    Будь ласка, не пхай свого носа у мої власні справи. — shanghainese

    ruПожалуйста, не суй нос в мои личные дела. — awiz

    deStecke deine Nase bitte nicht in meine Privatangelegenheiten! — Pfirsichbaeumchen

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  2. Don't pry into my private life.

    CC BY 2.0 FR · Tatoeba · CK · C1Open on TatoebaReport a problem

  3. Don't pry into the affairs of others.

    ruНе суй свой нос не в свое дело. — Balamax

    deMisch dich nicht in die Angelegenheiten anderer Leute. — xtofu80

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  4. Tom tried to pry the door open.

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  5. We'll have to pry the door open.

    ruНам придётся взломать дверь. — odexed

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Translations

7 languages
Русский
By meaning 1
to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy:
Deutsch
By meaning 3
to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public:
to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy:
1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen:

Origin

The verb is inherited from Middle English prien, pryen (“to look closely, peer into, pry,

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 probably a back-formation from prise, prize (“tool for levering, lever”), construed as the plural of pry.

Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source

Forms

pries, prying, pried, pried
Base formpry · to pry
3rd person singularpries
Present participleprying
Past simplepried
Past participlepried

regular · Lesson

Present simpleLesson

I, you, we, theypry
he, she, itpries

Past simpleLesson

all personspried

Present perfectLesson

I, you, we, theyhave pried
he, she, ithas pried

Future simple (will)Lesson

all personswill pry

Synonyms

10 synonyms
quarryC1wring
Close in meaning

Word family

7 related words
Relatedprying
Derivedpryerpryinglyprierprybarpryproofunpry

Lessons for this word

3 lessons

Collocations

5 patterns
  • pry open the
  • pry open
  • to pry open
  • tried to pry
  • pry the door

See also

neighbours in the dictionary
prudishpruneprunerpsalmpseudo
pry — meaning, examples, forms, synonyms | Krumeto