1
as in to pull
to raise, move, or pull apart with or as if with a lever
it took some effort to pry up the trap door
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to yank
to draw out by force or with effort
a vain attempt to pry the cork out of a wine bottle
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to interfere
to interest oneself in what is not one's concern
don't go prying into other people's business
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pry
Verb
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This seasonal turn pulls you toward a time of reflection.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
21 June 2026 -
To pull it off, the show’s creative team had to build a rock star from the ground up, crafting a visual identity, creating music that could stand on its own outside the series, and transforming Reid into a performer capable of owning a crowd rather than simply acting in front of one.—
Precious Fondren,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
Verb
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Within days of its release, Anthropic’s most sophisticated public AI model was abruptly yanked from customers.—
Hadas Gold,
CNN Money,
21 June 2026
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With two outs and a runner on, Sasaki yanked a splitter to the inside edge of the strike zone to Gunnar Henderson, who lifted it over the wall in right field.—
Maddie Lee,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
Verb
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The Kennedy Center’s leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump’s speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.—
Steven Sloan,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2026
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But a thing called the Civil War interfered.—
Maximilíano Durón,
ARTnews.com,
12 June 2026
Verb
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Finland’s parliament on Wednesday voted to lift a decades-old ban on nuclear weapons, approving a major defense policy shift aimed at aligning the country more closely with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) deterrence strategy.—
Bonny Chu,
FOXNews.com,
18 June 2026
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The hospital was initially placed on lockdown, but that order was lifted several hours later as police began clearing the scene.—
Thao Nguyen,
USA Today,
18 June 2026
Verb
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The ability to extract consumer insights, test prototypes, and craft compelling product narratives must be embedded across teams, according to Kemkers.—
Sally Percy,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2026
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The agreement appears to offer Iran several benefits up front while extracting little in return.—
Seung Min Kim,
Chicago Tribune,
18 June 2026
Verb
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Cloudy and rainy conditions prevail throughout the morning, then in the afternoon the sun pokes through with calm winds.—
Kendrick Calfee
June 16,
Kansas City Star,
16 June 2026
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Cover the jar with plastic wrap and poke a few holes in the top.—
Meghan Overdeep,
Southern Living,
16 June 2026
Verb
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His torso and thighs grow eye-poppingly muscular beneath their skimpy fur-and-leather togs—a development that does not go unnoticed by a warrior named Red Hair, who plucks the young hunk from his post and tosses him into the prime time of the gladiator pit.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
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As with the studio version, the track began with Lifeson plucking out a delicate intro on a nylon-string guitar before blasting into monster electric riffs.—
Brian Hiatt,
Rolling Stone,
14 June 2026
Verb
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Rocky was not to be messed with.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
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In fact, there are reasons to mess with Australia, via the media.—
Henry Bushnell,
New York Times,
17 June 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Pry.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pry. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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