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.
Meanings
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 37:
A person who is very inquisitive or nosy; a busybody, a nosey parker.
fi uteleminen (act of prying; close and curious look) · fa فضول (person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker) · bg любопитко (person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker) · fi urkkiminen (act of prying; close and curious look) · scn curtigghiari (act of prying; close and curious look) · mi whawhewhawhe (person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker) · bg надничане (act of prying; close and curious look) · fi urkinta (act of prying; close and curious look) · fi urkkija (person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker) · fa کنجکاو (person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker) · fi utelu (act of prying; close and curious look) · fi utelija (person who is very inquisitive or nosy — see also busybody, nosey parker)
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.
Meanings
(intransitive) To peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public.
And 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:
[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 293–294:
[…] 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 158–161:
(figuratively, intransitive) To inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy; to snoop.
to pry into someone's affairs
We 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 73:
I don't mean to pry, but could you tell me where you got that scarf?
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 1:
(obsolete, transitive) To 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:
bg надничам (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · de schnüffeln (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · mi mahira (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fi udella (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · es sapear (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · nl gluren (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · pt xeretar (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · mi whawhewhawhe (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · it sbirciare (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · pl podpatrzyć (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · nl snuffelen (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · nl boren (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · ca dotorejar (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · ru подсма́тривать (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · es fisgonear (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · ru шпио́нить (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fi tirkistää (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · es fisgar (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · he חִטֵּט (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · ja 首を突っ込む (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fi kurkistaa (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · pl wścibiać się (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · ja 詮索する (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · nl steken (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fi tiedustella (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · es hurguetear (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fa سر و گوش آب دادن (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · pl wściubiać się (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · es curiosear (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · pl wścibić się (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · cmn 窺探 /窥探 (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · la inquīrō (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · es husmear (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · fi töllistellä (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · ru следи́ть (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · he רִחְרֵחַ (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · pt bisbilhotar (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fr fouiller (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · es entremeterse (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · nl loeren (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · es vinear (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · pl wściubić się (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · it intrudere (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · de genau nachsehen (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · fr s'immiscer (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · bg пъхам си носа (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fr scruter (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · pl podpatrywać (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · fi nuuskia (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · ru выве́дывать (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · bg любопитствам (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · bg полюбопитствам (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · es vidajenear (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · de genau hinsehen (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · fi urkkia (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fi penkoa (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public) · es curiosear (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · es hurgar (to inquire into something that does not concern one; to be nosy) · fr fureter (to peer closely and curiously, especially at something closed or not public)
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.
Meanings
(East-Anglia, US) A tool for levering; a crowbar, a lever.
bg лост (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · nl hendel (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · ru рыча́г (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · fi vipu (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · he מנוף (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · nl priem (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · lv svira (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · fi kanki (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · nl hefboom (tool for levering — see also crowbar) · de Hebel (tool for levering — see also crowbar)
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.
Meanings
(transitive) To 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:
(figuratively, transitive) Usually followed by out (of): to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort.
sk vypáčiť (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · nl wrikken (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · fi kangeta (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · mi whakatiriwhana (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · de aufhebeln (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · bg извличам (2. to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort) · es hacer palanca (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · fi vivuta (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · bg разбивам с лост (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · nl openwrikken (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · nl priemen (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · fi kammeta (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen) · bg извлека (2. to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort) · sk vylámať (1. to use leverage to open, raise, or widen)