Free Translator Free Translator
Translators Dictionaries Courses Other
Home
English Dictionary      examples: 'day', 'get rid of', 'New York Bay'




Pry   /praɪ/   Listen
Pry

verb
(past & past part. pried; pres. part. prying)
1.
To move or force, especially in an effort to get something open.  Synonyms: jimmy, lever, prise, prize.  "Raccoons managed to pry the lid off the garbage pail"
2.
Be nosey.
3.
Search or inquire in a meddlesome way.  Synonyms: horn in, intrude, nose, poke.
4.
Make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry.  Synonym: prise.
noun
1.
A heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge.  Synonyms: crowbar, pry bar, wrecking bar.



Related searches:



WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








Advanced search
     Find words:
Starting with
Ending with
Containing
Matching a pattern  

Synonyms
Antonyms
Quotes
Words linked to  

only single words



Share |





"Pry" Quotes from Famous Books



... In order to provide for this contingency some Bhoyars give their children ten or twelve names at birth. If all the names fail, the Joshi invents new ones of his own, and in some way brings about the auspicious union to the satisfaction of both parties, who consider it no business of theirs to pry into the Joshi's calculations or to question his methods. After the marriage-shed is erected the family god must be invoked to be present at the ceremony. He is asked to come and take his seat in an earthen pot containing a lighted wick, the pot being supported ...
— The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume II • R. V. Russell

... the Jesuits entered heart and soul into the work of education, winning their pupils' hearts by kindness, watching their moods, directing their minds into congenial studies, and inspiring them with generous sentiments, they did not stop to pry into their motives; and universities, when they discovered the superior culture of educated Jesuits, outstripping all their associates in learning, and shedding a light by their genius and erudition, very naturally appointed them to the highest chairs; ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume VI • John Lord

... ravine—to her. But Blake's work was not the kind to slip or pull out. The watcher looked at the powerful figure backing rapidly down that roof-like pitch. One of the toes of the level tripod under the taut loop would easily pry the rope off the spike-head. He turned his pack around to get at the tripod—and paused to look upwards at the three tiny faces peering down over the ...
— Out of the Depths - A Romance of Reclamation • Robert Ames Bennet

... Stan's pardner, of course. These two laddie-bucks are some small part of the gang, bunch, or congregation that's been preyin' on Stan.' 'What they tryin' to put over on Stan now?' I asks, curiosity getting the better of my good manners. 'Not to pry into private matters any,' says I, 'but this thing is getting personal. I can feel malicious animal magnetism coursin' through every vein and leapin' from crag to crag,' says I. 'A joke's a joke, and I can take a joke as well as ...
— Copper Streak Trail • Eugene Manlove Rhodes

... the Kapellmeister slowly, "Don't be offended if I ask, or think that I am trying to pry into your affairs. When you were rehearsing this morning it occurred to me.—There was something new in the quality of your tone. Before, you were a virtuoso; your technique was something to gaze at and harken to, and there was no technique like ...
— The Black Cross • Olive M. Briggs


More quotes...



Copyright © 2024 Free-Translator.com