PRIED
What does "PRIED" mean?
Past tense of pry: forced something open, or inquired into matters that weren't one's business.
Meanings
- Used a lever or force to open or separate something. He pried the lid off the rusted paint can.
- Inquired too closely into private affairs. The neighbors pried into every detail of the divorce.
Did you know?
- The 'pry a lid open' verb was born from a misreading: the old word for a lever was 'prize', and English speakers dropped the -s thinking it was a plural, inventing 'pry'.
Word origin
Past tense of 'pry'; the 'force open' sense derives from the dialectal noun 'prize' (a lever), while the 'snoop' sense comes from a separate Middle English 'prien' (to peer).
Remember it
PRIED is PRY + ED - and both pry-meanings open something: a sealed lid, or a sealed secret.
A little poem
She pried the box, she pried the past;
both gave way, and neither lasted.
couplet
Wordplay
- I pried the truth out of my locked diary and my nosy roommate at the same time - one took a crowbar, the other just took the door being open.
What it teaches
The same motion opens a stuck door and a closed person - one is help, the other is trespass.
Quick facts
What does PRIED mean?
Past tense of pry: forced something open, or inquired into matters that weren't one's business.
Is PRIED a valid word?
Yes — PRIED is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is PRIED?
PRIED has 5 letters and 1 syllable.
Where does PRIED come from?
Past tense of 'pry'; the 'force open' sense derives from the dialectal noun 'prize' (a lever), while the 'snoop' sense comes from a separate Middle English 'prien' (to peer).
What can PRIED teach us?
The same motion opens a stuck door and a closed person - one is help, the other is trespass.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.