FluentPlex

pry

/pɹaɪ/ verb C2
  1. To use leverage to open, raise, or widen (something); to prise or prize. (transitive)
  2. Usually followed by out (of): to draw out or get (information, etc.) with effort. (figuratively, transitive)

He/she/it pries · Past pried · Past participle pried · -ing form prying

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Verb forms

Base form
pry
He/she/it
pries
Past
pried
Past participle
pried
-ing form
prying

From the library

While he lamented and bewailed his sores and bruises, and cried loudly for help, a neighbor ran to the well, and learning what had happened said: “Hark ye, old fellow, why, in striving to pry into what is in heaven, do you not manage to see what is on earth?”
Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, p. 22 · B2
Where your calling is more open to criticism is when you pry into the secrets of private individuals, when you rake up family matters which are better hidden, and when you incidentally waste the time of men who are more busy than yourself.
The Return of Sherlock Holmes, p. 113 · C1
Dave confidently claimed he could easily pry the door open with a metal crowbar.
Locked Out in My Pajamas, p. 1 · B2

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.