prise

/prise/
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Definition
  1. Verb:
    • To force something open or apart using a lever or similar tool: This is the primary meaning, describing the action of using physical force with a tool to open, separate, or move something that is tightly closed or fixed.
    • To obtain something (like information) with effort or difficulty: This figurative sense means to extract something, typically information, from someone who is unwilling to give it.
Usage and Examples
  • Verb (Physical Action):
    • He used a crowbar to prise open the wooden crate.
    • I had to prise the lid off the old paint tin.
  • Verb (Figurative Action):
    • The journalist finally prised the truth from the reluctant witness.
    • It was difficult to prise a confession out of him.
Advanced Usage and Notes
  • Spelling Variant: The word is more commonly spelled pry in American English. The spelling prise is standard in British English.
    • UK: She tried to prise the window open.
    • US: She tried to pry the window open.
  • Often used with adverbs/prepositions: The verb is frequently followed by open, off, apart, out, from, or loose to specify the action.
    • prise off, prise apart, prise out
Variants and Related Words
  • Pry (verb): The American English spelling variant of "prise," with identical meanings.
  • Lever (verb): To move or lift something with a lever. This is a close synonym for the physical action sense.
  • Jimmy (verb, chiefly US): To force something open, especially with a short crowbar (a "jimmy").
Synonyms
  • Force open
  • Jemmy (verb, UK)
  • Wrest (as in )
  • Extract (figurative sense)
Phrasal Verbs / Common Constructions
  • Prise open: To use force to open something.
    • Firefighters had to prise open the car door to rescue the driver.
  • Prise out of/from: To obtain information with difficulty from someone.
    • They couldn't prise the secret out of her.
  • Prise off: To remove something by forcing it.
    • We prised the nameplate off the old desk.
  • Prise apart: To separate things that are stuck together.
    • The two metals were fused and impossible to prise apart.
Idioms and Fixed Phrases
  • To prise/pry someone's fingers loose: To make someone let go of something they are holding tightly, either literally or figuratively.
    • It took a long negotiation to prise his fingers loose from control of the company.
  • To prise/pry open a market: A business idiom meaning to gain entry into a new or difficult market through persistent effort.
    • The new strategy helped them prise open the Asian market.
Verb
  1. regard highly; think much of
    • I respect his judgement
    • We prize his creativity
  2. make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry
    • They pried the information out of him
  3. to move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
    • The burglar jimmied the lock: Raccoons managed to pry the lid off the garbage pail

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