From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishprypry /praɪ/ verb (pried, prying, pries) 1 [intransitive]FIND OUT to try to find out details about someone else’s private life in an impolite way I don’t want to pry, but I need to ask you one or two questions.pry into reporters prying into the affairs of celebrities2 [transitive always + adverb/preposition] especially American EnglishOPEN to force something open, or force it away from something else SYN prize British Englishpry something open/away/off etc We finally managed to pry the door open with a screwdriver.3 → away from prying eyes → pry something out of somebody/something→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
pry• Anna is a private person, and I did not want to pry.• My son hasn't given us a reason for his divorce, and we don't want to pry.• Her head throbbed, but she ignored it as she probed and pried.• I didn't mean to pry.• But those glimmering eyes can also be prying, even sinister.• The picture had been pried from each one.• Employers shouldn't try to pry into what a person does in the privacy of their own home.• Now, say two physicists at Johns Hopkins University, the secret behind this sticky mystery has been pried loose.• That is their secret, and will remain so; it behoves us not to pry, only to speculate in passing.• Maury Maverick managed to pry out of the Pentagon the religious affiliations of the 220 who died that day in Beirut.• Collymore heaved himself into the boat and slapped the boy until his senses returned, prying the club from his mortal grip.Origin pry 1. (1300-1400) Origin unknown2. (1800-1900) prize “to force up” ((17-21 centuries)), from prize “lever” ((14-20 centuries)), from Old French prise “act of seizing” 