prypry /praɪ/ verb (past tense and past participle pried, present participle prying, third person singular pries) 
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 English 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.3away from prying eyes in private, where people cannot see what you are doingpry something out of somebody/something phrasal verb American English to get money or information from someone with a lot of difficulty: If you want to know his name, you’ll have to pry it out of her.
WORD ORIGINpry
Origin:
1,3 1300-1400 Origin unknown2,4 1800-1900 prize ‘to force up’ (17-21 centuries), from prize ‘lever’ (14-20 centuries), from Old French prise ‘act of seizing’VERB TABLE
pry
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | pry |
| he, she, it | pries | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | pried |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have pried |
| he, she, it | has pried | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had pried |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will pry |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have pried |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am prying |
| he, she, it | is prying | |
| you, we, they | are prying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was prying |
| you, we, they | were prying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been prying |
| he, she, it | has been prying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been prying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be prying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been prying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Anna is a private person, and I did not want to pry.
- Employers shouldn't try to pry into what a person does in the privacy of their own home.
- My son hasn't given us a reason for his divorce, and we don't want to pry.
- But those glimmering eyes can also be prying, even sinister.
- Collymore heaved himself into the boat and slapped the boy until his senses returned, prying the club from his mortal grip.
- Her head throbbed, but she ignored it as she probed and pried.
- I didn't mean to pry.
- Maury Maverick managed to pry out of the Pentagon the religious affiliations of the 220 who died that day in Beirut.
- 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.
- The picture had been pried from each one.
THESAURUS
to try to get involved in a situation where you are not wanted or needed: · She tried not to interfere in her children’s lives.· It’s not your problem, so don’t interfere.
to interfere in someone else’s affairs in a way that is annoying for them. Meddle is more informal than interfere, and has more of a feeling of being annoyed: · I did not want my parents meddling in my private affairs.· He warned diplomats against meddling in Indonesia’s affairs.
to interfere by being somewhere where you are not wanted, or getting involved in a situation that is private – used especially when saying that you want to avoid doing this: · Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude while you were on the phone.· When someone dies, people are often worried about intruding.
informal to interfere by trying to become involved in a private situation or conversation that does not concern you: · Stop butting in, will you!· I didn’t want to give them any advice in case they thought I was butting in.
to try to find out what someone else is doing in their private life, by asking questions or secretly checking what they are doing, in a way that seems annoying or rude: · Journalists like to pry into the lives of the rich and famous.· I didn’t mean to pry – I just wanted to know if I could help.
informal to ask questions about someone else’s private life or give them advice they do not want, in a way that annoys them: · She’s one of those people who’s always poking her nose into other people’s business.
Longman Language Activatorto try to find out something private or personal to try to find out about someone's private affairs, especially by secretly looking in their house, examining their possessions etc: · Bob caught her snooping through the papers on his desk.snoop on: · Technology is making it easier to snoop on just about anybody.snoop around/about British: · What are you doing snooping around in my room?
to try to find out about someone's private life by asking a lot of personal questions in a way that people find rude or annoying: · My son hasn't given us a reason for his divorce, and we don't want to pry.pry into: · Employers shouldn't try to pry into what a person does in the privacy of their own home.
/about British informal to look around a place, especially someone's home or office, to try to find out things that do not really concern you: · The kids were nosing around in the attic and found a box of old photos.nose around an office/room/house etc: · I got suspicious when I found him nosing around my office early one morning.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY I don’t want to pry, but I need to ask you one or two questions.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
I don’t want to pry, but I need to ask you one or two questions.· He pried off his shoes; loosened his collar; slumped in his seat like an opium smoker.
VERB· Was that why you wanted to pry into my private life?· He had had enough experience of strangers probing his own hurts without wanting to pry into those of others.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY
1[intransitive] to try to find out details about someone else’s private life in an impolite way: - She is finally able to relax with friends, away from prying eyes.
- Until the key is used, the contents of the message are locked away from prying eyes.
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 English 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.3away from prying eyes in private, where people cannot see what you are doingpry something out of somebody/something phrasal verb American English to get money or information from someone with a lot of difficulty: If you want to know his name, you’ll have to pry it out of her.