MEANING
1. To seek information about someone's private affairs without proper invitation.
2. To lift, open, or separate something by levering it.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- pry into a life
- pry for details
On the page
She would not pry into the reasons for his departure.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- pry
- Past tense
- pried
- Past participle
- pried
- Present participle
- prying
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- pry
- Present continuous
- am/is/are prying
- Present perfect
- have/has pried
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been prying
- Past
- pried
- Past continuous
- was/were prying
- Past perfect
- had pried
- Past perfect continuous
- had been prying
- Future
- will pry
- Future continuous
- will be prying
- Future perfect
- will have pried
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been prying
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: pry; pries; pried; pried; prying Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: pries.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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