Meanings
pry1
present singular third person pries · participle present prying · participle past pried · past pried
- intransitiveTo peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public.
[W]omen haue eagles eyes, / To prie euen to the heart, and why not you?
1599 (first performance), [Thomas Dekker, Henry Chettle, William Houghton], The Pleasant Comodie of Patient Grissill. […], London: […] Henry Rocket, […], published 1603; republished Erlangen, Bavaria: […] Fr. Junge (Junge & Sohn), 1893, →OCLC, page 11, lines 293–2942 more examples
[…] 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, […]
1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 158–161And 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: […]
1815, William Wordsworth, “Canto First”, in The White Doe of Rylstone; or The Fate of the Nortons. A Poem, London: […] [F]or Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], by James Ballantyne and Co., […], →OCLC, page 19 - figurativelyintransitiveTo inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy; to snoop.
to pry into someone's affairs
3 more examples
Watch thou, and wake when others be aſleepe, / To prie into the ſecrets of the State, […]
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 122, column 1We literary hacks are shameless creatures. I believe there's no secret of the human heart into which we wouldn't pry.
1908, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, “Possibilities of a Pleasant Outing”, in A Room with a View, London: Edward Arnold, →OCLC, part I, page 73I don't mean to pry, but could you tell me where you got that scarf?
- obsoletetransitiveTo peer at (something) closely; also, to look into (a matter, etc.) thoroughly.
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.
1850, Herman Melville, “Night and Day Gambling in a Man-of-War”, in White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers; London: Richard Bentley, published 1855, →OCLC, page 357
plural pries
- An act of prying; a close and curious look.
With those beauties, scarce discern'd, / Kept with such sweet privacy, / That they seldom meet the eye / Of the little loves that fly / Round about with eager pry.
1817 March 3, John Keats, “[Poems.] To ****”, in Poems, London: […] [Charles Richards] for C[harles] & J[ames] Ollier, […], →OCLC; reprinted in Poems (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, 1927, →OCLC, stanza 1, page 37Synonyms: prying
- A person who is very inquisitive or nosy; a busybody, a nosey parker.
Synonyms: Paul Pry
pry2
present singular third person pries · participle present prying · participle past pried · past pried
- transitiveTo use leverage to open, raise, or widen (something); to prise or prize.
"Oh! he's going home to Down East," said another; "so far eastward, you know, shippy, that they have to pry up the sun with a handspike."
1850, Herman Melville, “A Dish of Dunderfunk”, in White-Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, publishers; London: Richard Bentley, published 1855, →OCLC, page 158
pry3
- colloquialnot comparabletransitiveProbably.
Pry4
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn act of prying; a close and curious look.
nounA person who is very inquisitive or nosy; a busybody, a nosey parker.
verbUsually followed by out (of): to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge
verbto move or force, especially in an effort to get something open
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
pry · verb, noun
- Old English*prīwan
- Middle Englishprien
- Englishpry
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 derived from the verb.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →pry · noun, verb
The noun is probably a back-formation from prise, prize (“tool for levering, lever”), construed as the plural of pry. The verb is either derived from the noun, or is a back-formation from prise (“to force open with a lever”), construed as pries, the third-person singular present form of pry.
Full word history & related roots →Pry · proper noun
* As an Irish surname, spelling variant of Prey, from Ó Préith, probably from na préith (“of the cattle-spoil”) (compare Latin praeda (“plunder, booty”)). * As a German surname, a spelling variant of Prey, from breu (“brew”); see brauen. Comparable to the surname Preyer.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian надничам, любопитствам
- надничам (nadničam)to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- любопитствам (ljubopitstvam)to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- полюбопитствам (poljubopitstvam)to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- пъхам си носа (păham si nosa)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- надничане (nadničane)act of prying; close and curious look
- любопитко (ljubopitko)person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker
- лост (lost)tool for levering — see also crowbar
- разбивам с лост (razbivam s lost)1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
- извличам (izvličam)2. to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort
- извлека (izvleka)2. to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort
Catalan dotorejar
- dotorejarto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
Chinese Mandarin 窺探 /窥探
- 窺探 /窥探 (kuītàn)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
Dutch gluren, loeren
- glurento peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- loerento peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- snuffelento peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- borento inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- stekento inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- priemtool for levering — see also crowbar
- hefboomtool for levering — see also crowbar
- hendeltool for levering — see also crowbar
- openwrikken1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
- priemen1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
- wrikken1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
Finnish kurkistaa, penkoa
- kurkistaato peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- penkoato peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- tirkistääto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- töllistelläto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- nuuskiato inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- tiedustellato inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- udellato inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- urkkiato inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- urkintaact of prying; close and curious look
- urkkiminenact of prying; close and curious look
- uteluact of prying; close and curious look
- uteleminenact of prying; close and curious look
- urkkijaperson who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker
- utelijaperson who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker
- kankitool for levering — see also crowbar
- viputool for levering — see also crowbar
- kammeta1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
- kangeta1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
- vivuta1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
French fureter, fouiller
- fureterto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- fouillerto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- scruterto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- s'immiscerto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
German genau hinsehen, genau nachsehen
- genau hinsehento peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- genau nachsehento peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- schnüffelnto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- Hebeltool for levering — see also crowbar
- aufhebeln1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
Hebrew חִטֵּט, רִחְרֵחַ
- חִטֵּט (khitét)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- רִחְרֵחַ (rikhréakh)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- מנוף (manof)tool for levering — see also crowbar
Italian sbirciare, intrudere
- sbirciareto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- intrudereto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
Japanese 首を突っ込む, 詮索する
- 首を突っ込む (kubi-o tsukkomu)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- 詮索する (sensaku-suru)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
Latin inquīrō
- inquīrōto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
Latvian svira
- sviratool for levering — see also crowbar
Māori mahira, whawhewhawhe
- mahirato inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- whawhewhawheto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- whawhewhawheperson who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker
- whakatiriwhana1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
Persian سر و گوش آب دادن, کنجکاو
- سر و گوش آب دادن (sar o guš âb dâdan)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- کنجکاو (konjkâv)person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker
- فضول (fozul)person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker
Polish podpatrywać, podpatrzyć
- podpatrywaćto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- podpatrzyćto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- wścibiać sięto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- wścibić sięto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- wściubiać sięto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- wściubić sięto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
Portuguese bisbilhotar, xeretar
- bisbilhotarto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- xeretarto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
Russian подсма́тривать, следи́ть
- подсма́тривать (podsmátrivatʹ)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- следи́ть (sledítʹ)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- шпио́нить (špiónitʹ)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- выве́дывать (vyvédyvatʹ)to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- рыча́г (ryčág)tool for levering — see also crowbar
Slovak vylámať, vypáčiť
- vylámať1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
- vypáčiť1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
Spanish husmear, curiosear
- husmearto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- curiosearto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- sapearto peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public
- entremeterseto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- fisgarto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- fisgonearto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- hurgarto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- hurguetearto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- curiosearto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- vidajenearto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- vinearto inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy
- hacer palanca1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with pry
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
pry. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pry
“pry.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pry. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pry,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pry.
Source: pry on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.