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pry

[prahy]

Example Sentences Origin

verb (used without object)

to inquire impertinently or unnecessarily into something: to pry into the personal affairs of others.

to look closely or curiously; peer; peep.

noun

an impertinently inquisitive person.

an act of prying.

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Pry is one of our favorite verbs.

So is yaff. Does it mean:

to bark; yelp.

to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax.

LEARN MORE FUN, UNUSUAL VERBS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

Origin:
1275–1325; Middle English pryen, prien < ?

Example Sentences

Then insert one end of the pry bar beneath the slab and press downward on the other end to pry up the slab.

The government also seems loth to pry too deeply into military finances.

The pair had to use a pry bar and brute force to free one of the arms from the transport bed where it was latched down for launch.

EXPAND

Then insert one end of the pry bar beneath the slab and press downward on the other end to pry up the slab.

The government also seems loth to pry too deeply into military finances.

The pair had to use a pry bar and brute force to free one of the arms from the transport bed where it was latched down for launch.

The bubbles then pry open the barrier at specific points targeted by the ultrasound beam.

The protractor muscles of their beaks allow them to pry and to probe better than other birds.

We used pry top bottles because they are easier to seal than screw tops.

As for anything else on the team's release slate, well, you might have to pry it away from your hypothetical children.

Use a screwdriver to pry loose the bottoms of the corner caps at each end of the siding.

Stern-faced customs officials will pry them from the fingers of distraught border-crossing toddlers, if necessary.

You'll need to pry the warm steak from my cold hands dill weed.

To pry open the third eye, or squeegee it clean if you will anyways.

Stick the block of wood under the pry bar so you don't mar the sill.

Use the guitar pick or knife to pry off the white plastic bezel.

Pry the molding away gradually along its entire length until there is room to insert a wide pry bar.

They can pry our crown off our cold dead minting press.

He brought precious gifts, which he used to pry from them forbidden knowledge.

It always amazed me how two men with crowbars cannot pry open the lid of a vacuum chamber held down by a little air.

Insert the tip of a paring knife into the tip of the pit and carefully pry pit out.

To remove a sill that does not extend below the jambs, it is usually possible simply to pry it up with the pry bar.

They can take my books when they pry them from my cold, scaly talons.

Sometimes it takes a minute or two to pry their barbed fingers from our flesh and clothing before progress can resume.

Use a flat-head screwdriver to pry up the spline that runs around the perimeter of the frame, holding the fabric in place.

Pry the cap off with a screwdriver then remove the screw.

More hackers will try to pry their fingers into the huge new amount of information.

There are many weeding devices on the market, including some designed to pry out the monstrous taproots of dandelions.

If tacks are visible, pry these out with a flat pry bar to free the material.

Dude, when you pry my eyes from their cold, dead sockets.

The birds' job was to find bits of cheese hidden in film canisters, then pry open the lids to get the food out.

When using ax, spud or pry bar, make sure that it is fastened to your arm with a lanyard.

Chrostowski said he managed to pry up the door latch and rolled out of the moving car, escaping into the night.

If the gasket is torn, pry it up with a putty knife.

To remove a retainer clip, pry it loose with a common tip screwdriver.

Too often news organizations, advocacy groups and others have had to turn to the courts to pry public information from the city.

Slide the knife along to slit the muscle, then pry apart the shells with a twist of the knife, and release the meat.

Insert a pry bar between the jamb and the studs and gently pry the jamb back a little.

Pry loose any staples holding cables near the box, and avoid nicking any of the cable insulation.

Pry has already said she's not sure what to make of it.

Then the guys have to go out and try to pry and hammer away to get everything back into shape again before it cools off too much.

Having evolved in a region rich in tree-boring grubs but devoid of woodpeckers, they use twigs to pry insects from wood.

But don't think you're going to pry the club memberships out of their hands.

Then there's the complexity of getting experienced interrogators flown out to see to pry information out of the.

Use a flat pry bar, or wide flat chisel, to pry the molding away from the jamb and wall.

Pry is right, that any decision will have a downside.

The moral is that it takes only a small named database for someone to pry the anonymity off a much larger anonymous database.

If pry had something lodged up there, she surely would have been much more harsh.

It will be harder than ever to pry firms and households away from a deflationary mindset.

The accuser will now be fighting off real attackers as the police pry into her bank accounts and drug dealings.

To renew it, open the door and pry the unattached part away from the door frame with a wide stiff-bladed putty knife.

Pry up the middle piece then pull the two side pieces free.

Pry off any decorative cap from each faucet handle and find the screw holding the handle.

Carefully pry the leaf away from the frame, taking care not to chip the wood, and slip the shim into place in the notch.

Keeping body in one piece, carefully pry meat from tail, and set aside.

Pry out or saw through any nails holding the section, then slide it out.

When the two move forward and pry it open, their exhilaration quickly turns to disappointment.

Afterward, pry out any nails remaining in the wall.

Next, pry out the popped nail with a claw hammer or drive the popped nail entirely through the wallboard with a nailset.

Insert a flat prybar beneath it and pry out the nails anchoring the damaged siding to the.

If the edge of the cap is smooth, pry it up with a thin-bladed screwdriver.

But these parents have shunned publicity, leery of letting the world pry into their ordeals.

If the butcher has not removed the membrane on the back of each rib rack, gently pry it up by.

It is usually held on with nails and is fairly easy to pry off, but work carefully to avoid splitting the.

Then, using a flat pry bar, carefully pull the damaged board away from the eaves.

Carefully pry up the decorative cap or cover from the top of the faucet by using a thin-blade screwdriver.

Aside from that, performance statistics were hard to pry out of company officials.

Using money to pry a child from its mother would be unethical.

Russo's sons spun him to the ground in an effort to pry away his disposable camera.

He was teaching his crew how to pry the wood loose without splitting.

Pry carefully if you use a shovel or garden fork, as their handles break easily.

Some fear their sample could be used to pry into other areas of their lives.

If the butcher has not removed the membrane on the back of each rack, gently pry it up by sliding a.

Barnacles grow their protective plates in irregular shapes to make themselves more difficult for snails to pry open.

Insert the blade of a screwdriver or fingernail file, and twist or pry.

COLLAPSE

Dictionary.com Unabridged

verb (used with object)

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

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

the leverage exerted.

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

Link To pry

Collins

World English Dictionary

pry¹ (praɪ)

—vb (often foll by into) , pries, prying, pried
1.	to make an impertinent or uninvited inquiry (about a private matter, topic, etc)

—n , pries, prying, pried, pries
2.	the act of prying
3.	a person who pries

[C14: of unknown origin]

pry² (praɪ)

—vb , pries, prying, pried
1.	to force open by levering
2.	(US), (Canadian) to extract or obtain with difficulty: they had to pry the news out of him

[C14: of unknown origin]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

pry

"look inquisitively," 1307, from prien "to peer in," of unknown origin, perhaps from O.E. bepriwan "to wink."

EXPAND

pry

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

COLLAPSE

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"It was so hard to pry this door open, and if I mess up I know the people behind me are going to have it that much harder. Because then there's living proof. They can sit around and say, "See? It doesn't work." I don't want to be their living proof."

-Gayle Gardner

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