/ praɪ; NAmE / verb ( pries , pry·ing , pried , pried / praɪd; NAmE /)
1.
[ v ] pry (into sth) to try to find out information about other people's private lives in a way that is annoying or rude :
I'm sick of you prying into my personal life!
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry.
She tried to keep the children away from the prying eyes of the world's media.
2.
( especially NAmE ) = prise
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WORD ORIGIN
sense 1 Middle English (in the sense peer inquisitively ): of unknown origin.
sense 2 early 19th cent.: from the verb prise , interpreted as pries , third person singular of the present tense.