Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Pry |
PryNoun1. A heavy iron lever with one end forged into a wedge. Verb1. To move or force, esp. in an effort to get something open; "The burglar jimmied the lock", "Raccoons managed to pry the lid off the garbage pail". 2. Be nosey; "Don't pry into my personal matters!". 3. Search or inquire in a meddlesome way; "This guy is always nosing around the office". 4. Make an uninvited or presumptuous inquiry; "They pried the information out of him". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "pry" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Mining | Eng. Cornish miners' term for soft white clay. Also spelled pryan. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
PRY | English | Republic of Paraquay | Geography, Law |
PRY | French | République du Paraguay | Geography, Law |
PRY | German | Republik Paraguay | Geography, Law |
PRY | Italian | Repubblica del Paraguay | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: PrySynonyms: crowbar (n), pry bar (n), wrecking bar (n), jimmy (v), lever (v), nose (v), poke (v), prise (v), prize (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Conversation | Gossip, tattler; Paul Pry; tabby; chatterer; (loquacity); interlocutor; (spokesman); conversationist, dialogist. |
Curiosity | Verb: be curious; Adjective: take an interest in, stare, gape; prick up the ears, see sights, lionize; pry; nose; rubberneck. |
Inquirer; sightseer; quidnunc, newsmonger, Paul Pry, eavesdropper; gossip; (news); rubberneck; intellectual; seeker, seeker after truth. | |
Foresight | Verb: foresee; look forwards to, look ahead, look beyond; scent from afar; look into the future, pry into the future, peer into the future. |
Inquiry | Look into every hole and corner, peer into every hole and corner, pry into every hole and corner; nose; trace up; search out, hunt down, hunt out, fish out, ferret out; unearth; leave no stone unturned. |
Look for, look about for, look out for; scan, reconnoiter, explore, sound, rummage, ransack, pry, peer, look round; look over, go over, look through, go through; spy, overhaul. | |
Opening | Uncover, unclose, unrip; lay open, cut open, rip open, throw open, pop open, blow open, pry open, tear open, pull open. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | In fact, I hear the bite reflex is so strong they have to pry the victims jaws open with a crow bar. (The Shawshank Redemption; writing credit: Frank Darabont) I do not mean to pry, but you don't by any chance happen to have six fingers on your right hand (The Princess Bride; writing credit: William Goldman) I must be the prized dope of all-time thinking I could pry you away from your mama's ever-lovin' tentacles (Bye Bye Birdie; writing credit: Michael Stewart; Irving Brecher) | |
Movie/TV Titles | A Modern Paul Pry (1910) Ubyt pry yspolenyi (1977) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Bill Hicks | I'll tell you, too, that's starting to depress me about UFO's, about the fact that they cross galaxies, or wherever they come from to visit us, and always end up in places like Fife, Alabama. Maybe these are not super-intelligent beings, man. Maybe they're like hillbilly aliens. Some intergalactic Joad family or something. "Don't you all want to land in New York, or L.A.?" "Nah, we just had a long trip, we gonna kick back and whittle some." Oh, my God, they're idiots. "We're gonna enter our mothership in the tractor pull!" My God, we're being invaded by rednecks. My biggest fear. Last thing I want to see is a flying saucer up on blocks in front of some trailer, you know? Wouldn't that be depressing? Some bumper sticker on it - "They'll get my ray gun when they pry my cold, dead, eighteen-fingered hand off of it." |
Robert Browning | Where the apple reddens never pry -- lest we lose our Edens, Eve and I. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | We have already taken actions to counter unfair trading practices to pry open closed foreign markets. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Pry" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 73.17% of the time. "Pry" is used about 82 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 73.17% | 60 | 43,597 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 12.2% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Noun (proper) | 12.2% | 10 | 111,207 |
| Unclassified Items | 1.22% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Noun (singular) | 1.22% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 82 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "pry" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Pry | Last name | 1,000 | 14,506 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "pry": paul pry ♦ poke and pry ♦ pry about ♦ pry bar ♦ pry into ♦ pry into smb.'s affairs ♦ pry into the future ♦ pry loose ♦ pry off ♦ pry open ♦ pry out ♦ pry pole ♦ pry up. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "pry": pry-bar. | |
Ending with "pry": poll-pry. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
pry bar | 28 |
pry | 13 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "pry"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | tregohem kureshtar, shkul me darë, ngre me forcë (heave, prise, prize), levë (crow, crowbar, handspike, helper, joystick, lever), kureshtje (curiosity, inquisitiveness), kureshtar (curious, inquiring, inquisitive, inquisitorial, noser, nosey, nosy, staring, whimsical), fut hundët (nuzzle, snoop), fus hundët, bëj levë (prise, prize). (various references) | |
Arabic | نقب (burrow, burrowing, comb, delve, drilling, excavation, fish, mine, piercing, quest, rake, ransack, root, rout out, rummage, scour, scrabble about, scrutinize, sleuth), حدق بامعان, تطفل (cadge, crash, gatecrash, horn, impose, intrude, intrusion, meddle, mix in, nose, obtrude, obtrusion, parasitize, snoop, snooping), تصيد (fish, nose, sleuth), التدخل في شئون الأخرين, إسترق النظر (glance at, take a gander), بحث عن الأسرار (ferret out secrets), بحث (brochure, cast about, consideration, discuss, discussion, disquisition, drilling for, examine, exploration, explore, fumble, hunt for, inquest, inquire, inquisition, investigate, investigation, look, look for, looking for, poke about, probe, prospection, pursue, quest, research, retrieve, rummage, scrounge, scrutinize, search, see, see into, seek, seeking, sought, spy, study, talk over, think through, treatise, try, ventilate). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | средство (agency, contrivance, device, help, instrumentality, instrumentation, means, medium, recourse, remedy, resort, resource, shift, tool, weapon), отлепвам (rip off, unglue, unstick), отделям (abstract, cull, detach, discharge, disestablish, disjoin, dissever, disunite, educe, eject, eliminate, emit, estrange, evolve, excrete, exhale, extricate, exude, insulate, isolate, lay aside, part, prescind, screen, seclude, secrete, segregate, separate, sequester, set apart, set off, sever, sort, spare, tear away, unfix, unjoin, unyoke), надничам (peek, peep, peer), надзъртам (keek, peek, peep), любопитствувам (poke about), лост (bar, bolt, clevis, column, crossbar, horizontal bar, lever, pinch, tiller), пъхам си носа, измъквам (disentangle, drag out, drag up, extract, extricate, ferret out, finagle, fish out, get away, mulct, rip out, rout up, rummage out, shake down, slip away, tap, wheedle, worm). (various references) | |
Chinese | 訐 (accuse), '具, 刺探 . (various references) | |
Czech | pátrat (inquire, investigate, prospect, search), strkat nos, slídit (cast about, ferret, ferret about, forage). (various references) | |
Farsi | فضولی (Gallimaufry, Impertinence), فضولانه نگاه کردن , فضول (Blab, Blabber, Busybody, Inquisitive, Meddlesome, Nosey, Nosy, Obtruder, Obtrusive, Officious, Pryer), کنجکاوی , کاوش کردن (Delve, Explore), اهرم (Crow, Crowbar, Handspike, Lever), دیلم (Auger, Crow, Crowbar, Gad, Jimmy, Lever), بادیلم یااهرم بلندکردن , بادقت نگاه کردن (Gaze). (various references) | |
Finnish | urkkia (search out, spy). (various references) | |
French | regarder fixement, fourrer son nez dans les affaires des autres, filer un coup d'"il vers. (various references) | |
German | neugierig sein. (various references) | |
Greek | μοχλόσ (bar, crowbar, keystone, lever), περιεργάζομαι (examine, peer), εξετάζω (consider, examine, go over, inquire, investigate, look over, probe, query, question, quiz, screen, scrutinise, think about), ανασηκώνω (sit up, tip up), ανοίγω με μοχλόν, αποσπώ (abstract, break off, detach, distract, elicit, extort, extract, pluck, pull, tease out, unfix, wean 1, wean 2, wrench, wrest, wring). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ל"ציץ (gaze, glance at, peek, peep, peer, squint). (various references) | |
Hungarian | kíváncsi ember, emelőrúd (balk, crow, crow-bar, lever, pole, purchase). (various references) | |
Indonesian | mengintip (peep, spy, watch stealthily), mengintai (leer, leering, lying in wait for, prying), mengegoli, membongkar (break in, burglar, demolish, disclose, dismantle, force open, open up, unload, unpack). (various references) | |
Italian | togliere coperchio (prize), essere troppo curioso, curioso (agog, curious, inquiring, inquisitive, inquisitorial, nosey, nosy, peculiar, quaint, queer, rummy, sightseeing, snoopy), aprire (begin, bloom, carve, open, open up, prize, put up, set up, slit, switch on, turn on, unhook, unlock). (various references) | |
Korean | 지 . (various references) | |
Manx | speeikey (descry, descrying, peep, peeping, prying, spy), speeikearagh (descrying, peep, spy, spying), skeetal (sneak, sneaking), sheegerey (prying, spy), peeikearagh (curiosity, descrying, nosey, peep, peeping, pryer, prying, view, view from concealment, watch). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ypray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | pé-de-cabra (crow, crowbar, jemmy, jimmy), meter o nariz em (kike), intrometer-se em (kike), forçar com alavanca, esquadrinhar (dub, fish, kike, probe, rake, rake up, ransack, rummage, scan, sift), espreitar (keek, kike, lurk, peek, peep, peer, stalk, watch), espiar (keek, kike, peach, peek, peep, spy, spy on, waylay), bisbilhotar (gossip, kike, snoop, tattle), alavanca (arm, crow, crowbar, crow-bar, handle, handspike, heaver, jack, lever). (various references) | |
Romanian | pârghie (lever), ridica (advance, aggrandize, appear, arise, arrest, ascend, assemble, balloon, bring up, build, carry up, collect, construct, convene, create, draw the cloth, elevate, encash, enhance, erect, found, get up, heave, hoist, interpose, kick up, lift, loop, Mount, muster, perk up, pick up, pitch, pose, prong, put, put up, raise, receive, remove, resound, rise, round up, salt, set up, shovel, start, step up, stick up, straighten, strike, suspend, take up, up, uplift, weigh), desface (cleave, disassemble, disconnect, disentangle, dismantle, dissolve, free, knock down, loose, loosen, open, outstretch, pick up, sever, sprawl, spread, unbind, uncouple, undo, unfold, unfurl, unlace, unloose, unravel, unrig, untie). (various references) | |
Russian | рычаг (arm, handspike, heaver, lever), любопытство (curiosity), любопытный (curious, newsy, nosey, nosy), подглядывать рычаг, извлекать с трудом. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | zagledati (gape, stare), zabadati nos, dizati polugom. (various references) | |
Spanish | fisgar (jeer, mock, snoop). (various references) | |
Swedish | snoka (ferret, ferret about, search, snoop, spy), kika (consider, deem, keek, look, peek, peep, peer, regard, view, watch). (various references) | |
Turkish | zorla söyletmek, zorla elde etmek (steamroller), merakla bakmak, manivela (cantilever, handspike, heaver, lever, lever arm, prise, prize, tappet), koparmak (break, break off, cozen, cut off, deflorate, deflower, dissever, extort, pick, pick off, pluck, pull off, rend, rip, rip off, Rive, rupture, snap, snap off, snatch, snatch away from, snatch from, sunder, take apart, tear, tear away, tear off, tear out, unstick, work, wring), kaldıraç ile kaldırma, kaldıraç (handspike, heaver, Jack, lever, prise, prize), gözetlemek (case, case the joint, espy, eye, keep cave, observe, peek, peep, pry about, pry into, spy, spy on, spy on smb., spy out, spy upon, stand over, watch), dikizlemek (case, case the joint, have a peep, peek, peep, pry about, pry into, take a peep), burnunu sokmak (butt in, horn in, horn in on, interfere in, intermeddle, meddle, pick at, pick over, poke one's nose into, pry into, put one's nose into, put one's oar in, snoop, snoop into, thrust one's nose into, thrust oneself in). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | цікавість (curiosity), цікавитися (care, concern, wonder), цікавий (amusing, curious, entertaining, interesting, newsworthy, nosey, nosy, nutty, visitable), втручатися (break in, butt in, come between, cut in, edge in, encroach, interfere, interject, intermediate, intermit, interpose, intervene, meddle), важіль (lever, prise, prize, purchase), вивідувати (nose about, pump), насилу діставати, допитливий погляд, допитливий (curious, inquiring, inquisitive, investigative, investigatory, prying, searching). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | người thóc mách (paul pry), người tò mò (paul pry, prier). (various references) | |
Welsh | chwilota (rummage), chwilenna (pilfer, rummage). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Old English | 450-1100 | bepriwan. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "pry": pryer, pryers, prying, pryingly, prythee. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "pry": gossipry, spry. (additional references) | |
Words containing "pry": spryer, spryest, spryly, spryness, sprynesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Pry" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: apry, Epryn, kry, opry, pary, pcr, pdr, Pery, peryy, pey, phr, phry, Phy, piy, pjrey, pny, Ppru, Ppy, pra, prd, prer, pri, prib, prie, prij, pril, priw, prk, prn, prp, prq, prr, prs, prt, prty, pru, prv, prw, prye, pryg, prym, pryn, pryo, pryr, prys, pryt, psy, ptr, pty, ptyr, purry, pury, pwy, py, pyb, pyc, pyr, pyra, pyrg, pyrk, pyro, pyrt, Pyry, rp, rph, rry, ry. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "pry" (pronounced prī") |
| 3 | p r ī" | spry. |
| 2 | -r ī" | cry, decry, dry, Fry, retry, rye, semidry, Sri, try, wry. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words containing the letters "p-r-y" | |
+1 letter: pray, prey, pyre, ropy, spry. | |
+2 letters: apery, crepy, crypt, grapy, gripy, harpy, hyper, pardy, parry, party, payer, payor, peery, perdy, perky, perry, plyer, porgy, porky, porny, prays, prexy, preys, pricy, privy, prosy, proxy, pryer, pursy, pyran, pyres, pyric, raspy, repay, reply, ropey, roupy, spiry, spray, syrup, updry. | |
+3 letters: apiary, chirpy, crappy, creepy, crepey, crimpy, crispy, croupy, crypto, crypts, cypher, cypres, cyprus, drapey, drippy, droopy, dropsy, dupery, empery, expiry, frumpy, frypan, grapey, gripey, grippy, grumpy, gypper, japery, mopery, murphy, napery, osprey, paltry, panfry, pantry, papery, papyri, parity, parlay, parley, parody, partly, pastry, payers, payors, pearly, peltry, penury, peroxy, pertly, phylar, pinery, piracy, piraya, player, plyers, poetry, poorly, popery, portly, prayed, prayer, prepay, preppy, pretty, preyed, preyer, pricey, pricky, primly, priory, prissy, propyl, protyl, pryers, prying, psywar, puggry, purely, purify, purity, purply, purvey, pylori, pyrans, pyrene, pyrite, pyrola, pyrone, pyrope, pyrrol, pyuria, raptly, recopy, repays, replay, retype, ripely, ripply, ropery, ropily, rumply, sharpy, sirupy, sparky, sparry, sphery, sporty, sprays, sprucy, spryer, spryly, spurry, stripy, sypher, syrups, syrupy, triply, trippy, trophy, typier, vapory, yapper, yauper, yawper, yelper, zephyr. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Speeches | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Abbreviations 16. Acronyms | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
