pried 1 of 2

verb (1)

past tense of pry
1
as in pulled
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 yanked
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

pried

2 of 2

verb (2)

past tense of pry
as in interfered
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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of pried
Verb
Later, when the water receded, Fulcher and McKay pried open the Trotters’ crumpled trailer. — Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026 Someone pried open the rear cover to a truck and stole a set of golf clubs for a loss of about $3,000. — Anne Gelhaus, Mercury News, 7 Sep. 2026 But maybe pried his focus and joy and freedom away just a little bit going into the year. — Will Sammon, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 The latest was on Sunday, when interior doors of the restaurant were forced and pried open and $1,300 was stolen, all while a cleaning crew was inside. — Jess Fleming, Twin Cities, 21 Aug. 2026 The thieves moved through a massive vault door and pried open 146 large safe deposit boxes packed with millions of dollars' worth of cash, precious stones and metal, rare coins and stamps, jewelry and bars of silver. — Tom Mooney, The Providence Journal, 14 Aug. 2026 Security video of the early April 9 morning burglary shows three men entered the business through a broken window, smashed the machines with sledge hammers and pried out the boxes while a fourth man acted as lookout, the report said. — Dennis Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026 Poole is a top-100 prospect from the Peach State and what makes his commitment to FSU even more impressive is the fact that the Noles pried him away from the home-state Georgia Bulldogs. — Austin Perry Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 Aug. 2026 Once inside, the suspects smashed video poker machines with a sledgehammer and pried open an ATM, but did not leave with any money. — Elyssa Kaufman, CBS News, 30 July 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pried
  1. pulled
  2. yanked
  3. interfered
  4. lifted
  5. extracted
  6. poked
  7. prized
  8. plucked
Verb
  • Ivan Fedorov, co-chair of the regional defense council, said 12 bodies pulled from the rubble had been identified so far.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Someone got out of the front passenger seat of the car, walked around the back of the vehicle, pulled a gun out of the pocket of his hoodie, and fired four shots into the front driver's side window.
    — Todd Feurer, CBS News, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of pulled
Verb
  • The district secured $150 million in federal funding to fix the issue, but it was yanked back as part of cost-cutting efforts in 2025, then recently re-instated this year.
    — Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 27 Oct. 2026
  • With the wheels threatening to come off, Rays manager Kevin Cash yanked Seymour and put in Kevin Kelly.
    — Kyle Feldscher, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of yanked
Verb
  • But there was a problem, which was that all my amateur acting interfered badly with my work as a journalist.
    — Emily Zemler, Rolling Stone, 29 Oct. 2026
  • He was supposed to be one-on-one with Reigns before Jimmy Uso interfered and cost him the title.
    — Ryan Gaydos OutKick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of interfered
Verb
  • All protective actions were lifted, and site barricades have reopened, officials said.
    — Bonny Chu , Michael Sinkewicz, FOXNews.com, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Consumer spending has remained resilient and a surge in investment in artificial intelligence has lifted economic growth.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of lifted
Verb
  • Initial results indicate that the method can separate metal chlorides from magnet material more efficiently, allowing nearly all the metals to be extracted while using comparatively small amounts of chemicals.
    — Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 3 Nov. 2026
  • Kay’s latest appeal says his trial lawyer pressured him to reject a plea deal carrying five to 10 years and questions testimony about who extracted data from Skaggs’ phone.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of extracted
Verb
  • Kessler, standing nearby during Williams’ postgame news conference, poked his head out from behind a black curtain and gave his teammate a thumbs-up.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Already poked, the league bear hasn’t exactly gone into hibernation, either.
    — Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of poked
Verb
  • Python skin is prized in the footwear industry for adding a textural aspect to a common shoe.
    — Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Chrysoberyl is a rare gemstone prized for its exceptional hardness and brilliance, known for its honey and chartreuse hues that shift under the light, making Khaled’s one-of-a-kind watch shine that much brighter.
    — Taylor Stoddard, Robb Report, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of prized
Verb
  • Stars Nicholas Galitzine, Bill Skarsgard, Raymond Nicholson and Tom Francis as college football stars plucked from the height of their sports careers and into Marine training and the Pacific theater.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 1 Nov. 2026
  • Luckily for the man, having all of the adult worms plucked from his orbs meant the infection was over—no antiparasitic medication required, even if some of the larvae had been left behind.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 26 Oct. 2026
Definition of plucked

Browse Nearby Words

priding
pried
prier
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Pried.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pried. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of quondam

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All