pry

/pry/
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pry

A raccoon uses a pry bar to open a garbage can lid.

Definition

  1. Verb (transitive):

    • To move, raise, or open something with force using a lever or similar tool: To use physical force, often with a tool, to separate or open something that is tightly closed, stuck, or sealed.
    • To obtain something (like information) from someone with effort or persistence: To extract information, a secret, or a confession from someone who is unwilling to give it.

  2. Verb (intransitive):

    • To inquire or look into someone's private affairs in a nosy or intrusive way: To try to find out about things that are considered private or personal, especially in a way that is annoying or unwelcome.

  3. Noun:

    • A tool for prying; a lever: A metal bar, often with a flattened end, used to exert force and open or move something. (Also spelled prise or prize in some contexts).
Usage and Examples

  • Verb (transitive - physical action):

    • I had to pry the lid off the old paint can with a screwdriver.
    • The rescue team used a crowbar to pry open the damaged car door.

  • Verb (transitive - obtaining information):

    • The reporter managed to pry the details of the scandal from a reluctant source.
    • She didn't want to talk, but he finally pried the truth out of her.

  • Verb (intransitive - being nosy):

    • It's rude to pry into other people's financial matters.
    • I wish our neighbors would stop prying and mind their own business.

  • Noun (tool):

    • He used a pry to lift the floorboards.
    • A small pry bar is useful for removing nails.
Advanced Usage and Nuances

  • "Pry open": A common phrasal combination emphasizing the action of forcing something open.

    • The detective pried open the locked drawer to look for clues.

  • "Pry loose": To use force to detach or free something that is stuck.

    • We pried the old tile loose from the wall.

  • The noun form is less common in everyday speech than the verb. The tool is more frequently called a "crowbar," "lever," or "pry bar."

Variants and Related Words
  • Pry bar (n): A specific type of lever tool used for prying.
  • Prying (adj/n): Describes someone who is intrusively curious or the act itself.
    • She gave him a prying look. (adj)
    • Your constant prying is unacceptable. (n)
  • Pryer/Prizer (n): (Rare) A person who pries.
Synonyms
  • Verb (to open): Lever, jimmy, force, wrench.
  • Verb (to inquire nosily): Snoop, nose, meddle, intrude.
  • Noun (tool): Lever, crowbar, jimmy.
Phrasal Verbs and Common Combinations
  • Pry into: To investigate or inquire intrusively into a private matter.
    • The journalist was accused of prying into the celebrity's personal life.
  • Pry out of: To extract information or an object from someone/something with effort.
    • It was difficult to pry the promise out of him.
  • Pry off/up/apart: These prepositions specify the direction or result of the prying action (removal, lifting, separation).
    • He pried the nameplate off the door.
Idioms and Fixed Expressions
  • Pry one's eyes away (from something): To stop looking at something with great difficulty, often because it is very interesting or captivating.
    • The movie was so gripping I couldn't pry my eyes away from the screen.
  • To be the subject of prying eyes: To be watched or scrutinized in an unwelcome, intrusive manner.
    • Living in a small town, you're always the subject of prying eyes.
pry

A raccoon uses a pry bar to open a garbage can lid.

Noun
  1. a heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge
Verb
  1. make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry
    • They pried the information out of him
  2. search or inquire in a meddlesome way
    • This guy is always nosing around the office
  3. be nosey
    • Don't pry into my personal matters!
  4. 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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