| 释义 |
▪ I. † pry, n.1 Obs.
Also 6 prie.
[Derivation unknown.]
A local name of the small-leaved lime or linden (Tilia parvifolia). Also pry-tree.
1573Tusser Husb. (1878) 79 Lop popler and sallow, elme, maple, and prie. 1707Mortimer Husb. 355 The wild kind [of Lime-tree] bearing a smaller leaf than the other, by which I suppose, he [Evelyn] means the Tree which they call the Pry-tree, which grows the most plentiful in Essex.
▪ II. pry, n.2 Now only dial.|praɪ|
Also 7–8 prie, 9 prye.
[Derivation unknown.]
A name given locally to various rigid glaucous grasses and species of Carex, esp. C. panicea. Also pry-grass.
1610W. Folkingham Art of Survey i. iii. 7 Harsh, reddish, blewish spirie and prie-grass bewray a cold, vnkind..soile. Ibid. ix. 22 Rushes, ranke sower grasse, Prie and Quitch-grasse. 1798R. Douglas Agric. Surv. Roxb. 108 Different species of Carex, here called pry, and by Ainsworth interpreted sheer-grass. 1877Sir W. Elliot in Hist. Berw. Nat. Club (1879) VIII. 454 note, Prye, Pry, is called ‘the bottom of spret’, which alone is eaten by sheep when the spret gets old and hard. Several plants are included under this term, as:—Poa trivialis,..Holcus lanatus... Carex panicea also is considered a prye grass, as are other species of Carex.
▪ III. pry, n.3|praɪ|
[f. pry v.1]
1. An act or the action of prying; a peeping or inquisitive glance.
1750C. Smart Noon-piece 50 Secluded from the teizing pry Of Argus Curiosity. 1817Keats To ― 30 They seldom meet the eye Of the little loves that fly Round about with eager pry.
2. An inquisitive person. Cf. Paul Pry, Paul 3.
a1845Hood Ode to Rae Wilson vi, The spy On fellow souls, a Spiritual Pry. 1874R. Black tr. Guizot's Hist. France III. xxix. 152 Froissart is an insatiable pry who revels in all the sights of his day.
▪ IV. pry, n.4 dial. and U.S.|praɪ|
Also pray.
[f. prize, prise n.4, with final s (z) lost as in pea, cherry, etc.: cf. pry v.2]
An instrument for prying or prizing; a lever or crow-bar; = prize n.4 1.
1823,1828[see pry v.2]. a1825[see prize n.4]. 1872Talmage Serm. 45 The enemies of this book have tried to marshal on their side the astronomer's telescope and geologist's pry. 1884Science 22 Feb. 226/2 A dozen strong wooden poles served us as pries over many a lake and river bar of sand, gravel, and mud.
▪ V. pry, v.1|praɪ|
Also 4–6 prien, 4–7 prie, prye, 5 pri.
[ME. prien, of unknown origin.
The verbs pire and peer, which come near in form and sense, are of later appearance.]
1. intr. To look, esp. to look closely or curiously; to peep or peer, to look narrowly; to peer inquisitively or impertinently; to spy.
c1306in Pol. Songs (Camden) 222 After socour of Scotlond longe he mowe prye, Ant after help of Fraunce wet halt hit to lye? c1350Will. Palerne 96 At þe last lelly a litel hole he findes. Þere pried he in priuely. Ibid. 5019 Burgeys with here burdes..weyteden out at windowes..to prie on þe puple þat priked in þe stretes. c1412Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 114 Whanne..day gan at my wyndowe in to prye. 1423Jas. I Kingis Q. lxxii, The long[ë] day thus gan I prye and poure Till phebus endit had his bemes bryght. 1571Latimer's Serm. at Stamford 92 b, Spying, tooting, and looking, watching & prying [ed. 1550 catching], what they might heare or see against the sea of Rome. 1579W. Wilkinson Confut. Familye of Loue 38 b, [They] bryng their wares to the light, and prie, and pore on them. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 159 Thus..glide obscure, and prie In every Bush and Brake. 1750Gray Long Story 65 They..Into the Drawers and China pry. 1858Doran Crt. Fools 71 He went prying about into the corners of the hall.
2. pry into: to search inquisitively into (something secret or private); to investigate curiously or impertinently; to make private investigations into.
1629H. Burton Truth's Triumph 323 To prye into this Arcanum. 1638Junius Paint. Ancients 4 To prie into the most profound mysteries of Nature. 1754Sherlock Disc. (1759) I. iii. 114 Endeavour to pry into the nature..of the Almighty. a1859Macaulay Hist. Eng. xxiv. (1861) V. 196 A longing to pry into those mysteries of the grave from which human beings avert their thoughts.
b. gen. To inquire into or investigate closely.
1610J. Guillim Heraldry ii. viii. (1660) 92 To occasion them to prie more narrowly into these curious and nice manners or bearing, which numbers of them so sleightly passe over. 1638Wilkins New World i. (1707) 9 Not..to be rejected, but rather to be pry'd into with a diligent Enquiry. 1713Derham Phys.-Theol. i. iii. 23 If strictly pried into, will be found owing to natural Causes. 1860Motley Netherl. (1868) I. ii. 54 He pries into all the stratagems of Camillus.
†3. trans. To look for, look through, or look at closely; to observe narrowly. Obs.
1553Respublica iii. iv. 760 What nowe, brother Honestie? what prye ye this waie? Is there eni thing here that ys yours, can ye saie? 1582Stanyhurst æneis iii. (Arb.) 91, I pryed al quarters. 1632J. Pory in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. ii. III. 276 An horseman of the enemy prying the King steadfastly in the face, said [etc.].
b. pry out: to search or find out by prying.
a1548Hall Chron., Hen. VII 32 b, He secretly sent wise espialles..to searche & prye oute of what progeny thys misnamed Rycharde was dissended. 1760Dodd Hymn to Gd.-Nature Poems (1767) 4 Never..to pry out littleness and faults, Where merit claims my praise.
▪ VI. pry, v.2 dial. and U.S.|praɪ|
[Shortened from prize, prise v.3, app. through confusing the final consonant with the -s of the 3rd pers. sing. pres.: cf. pry n.4]
trans. To raise or move by force of leverage; to force up; = prize v.3 Also fig. Hence ˈprying vbl. n.
1823E. Moor Suffolk Words & Phrases 292 Pray, or Praise, or Prize, or Pry, to lift any thing with a lever—the lever is called a pray or lewer... To pray a door or lid open, is to open it with a handspike, or lever of any sort. 1828Webster, Pry, to raise or attempt to raise with a lever. This is the common popular pronunciation of prize in America. The lever used is also called a pry. 1850Lowell Lett. (1894) I. iii. 209 This seems to be the only lever to pry them over with. 1858[see hub1 3]. 1878Scribner's Mag. XVI. 56/2 You must pry it up with a stick or trowel. 1896C. M. Sheldon His Brother's Keeper iii. 66 We managed to pry out of him that he had seen you and Eric go down the ladders. 1897Gen. H. Porter Campaigning w. Grant ix. 146 In prying off the cross ties. 1903[In Eng. Dial. Dict. from Suffolk and Essex. Common with workmen in many parts.] 1921E. O'Neill Diff'rent ii. 245 It was always like pryin' open a safe for me to separate him from a cent. 1926Harper's Mag. Feb. 363/1, I stood rooted to the spot and you could not have pried me away. 1927S. Ertz Now East, Now West ii. 21 He walked about the decks..hand in hand with Cleve, whenever that friendly child could be pried loose from some new and fascinating acquaintance. 1933D. Garnett Pocahontas v. 46 Holding out his clenched fist for her to pry his fingers open. 1947S. Bellow Victim (1948) i. 14 Philip pried off the caps on the handle of a metal cabinet in the kitchen. 1954T. S. Eliot Confidential Clerk i. 18 She's come to pry some cash from the money-box. 1968J. Aiken Whispering Mountain iii. 64 Owen's teeth were pried open and the neck of the bottle forced between them. 1976Time 20 Dec. 1/2 When Watergate raised questions about the integrity of the Executive Branch, Congress appointed an independent prosecutor to pry out all the facts. 1978C. Tomlinson Shaft 14 As if this place could be pried out of now. |