pries 1 of 2

verb (1)

present tense third-person singular of pry
1
as in pulls
to raise, move, or pull apart with or as if with a lever it took some effort to pry up the trap door

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in plucks
to draw out by force or with effort a vain attempt to pry the cork out of a wine bottle

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

pries

2 of 2

verb (2)

present tense third-person singular of pry
as in interferes
to interest oneself in what is not one's concern don't go prying into other people's business

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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 pries
Verb
By fields of cotton and soybeans where his bees forage and pollinate, Foster Hensel pries open the lid of one of his beehives, setting off a rising hum from inside. — Drew Hawkins, NPR, 27 Aug. 2026 Remove the 11 Philips-head screws on the bottom of the laptop, and its bottom pries up with a bit of pressure. — ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026 There are swooping close encounters with heavenly bodies, Lego blocks in antigravity mode and swarms of Separators, a sort of astro-anthropomorphic version of the tool that pries apart Lego bricks in real life. — Dewayne Bevil, The Orlando Sentinel, 24 Feb. 2026 The show’s biggest laugh may come when Testa pries open Costanzo’s mouth and pronounces just how many performances of Norma Galas has left. — Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025 Could this be the year Johannesburg pries visitors away from Cape Town with a cool new city hotel and a dynamic dining scene, or when sunseekers take another look at Mauritius instead of the Maldives? — Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 15 Nov. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pries
  1. pulls
  2. plucks
  3. interferes
  4. lifts
  5. extracts
  6. pokes
  7. yanks
  8. messes
Verb
  • The latter—which perhaps pulls inspiration from the early addiction recovery phrase used to describe the honeymoon period of sobriety—details taking ownership of letting a romantic partner down.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 25 Sep. 2026
  • Food and drink Meals are all-inclusive, communal, and dictated by what the team pulls from the water and garden that morning.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of pulls
Verb
  • Trump sometimes plucks memes from a sprawling ecosystem of online conservative supporters, and sometimes his government staff produces them as part of their official messaging.
    — Josh Boak, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of plucks
Verb
  • But as China’s 2018 detention of two Canadian citizens after Canada arrested a Huawei executive showed, the party readily interferes in the legal system when important interests are at stake.
    — Mark Jia, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2026
  • Here’s when to watch and how to catch the best views before bright moonlight interferes.
    — Julia Gomez, USA Today, 1 July 2026
Definition of interferes
Verb
  • Chicago lifts its river bridges in the fall and spring to allow boats to travel between Lake Michigan and their winter storage facilities.
    — Talia Soglin, Chicago Tribune, 28 Sep. 2026
  • The rocket lifts off, its stages separate, and a payload continues toward space.
    — Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 27 Sep. 2026
Definition of lifts
Verb
  • IonQ attributes this feat to its dual decoder architecture, where the first decoder extracts the initial syndrome measurements while the second decoder corrects the residual errors after refining the intermediate representation.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
  • That web lasted about a decade before it was dismantled, piece by piece, in favor of one that extracts profits from similar interactions.
    — Betsy Blondin, Longreads, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of extracts
Verb
  • Bryan gets attacked by a dog, who pokes its head through a barn wall…and then the dog’s face splits apart like a flower, with tentacles shooting out.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Natural light pokes through the windows, adding a trademark freshness to an indoor coliseum.
    — Alec Lewis, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of pokes
Verb
  • When that doesn’t work, Vicki yanks off her mic and retreats to her bedroom, leaving the others uncertain of what to do next.
    — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Johnson yanks veterans' benefits package An effort to advance a package of VA benefits bills this morning on the House floor went down in flames – the latest in Speaker Mike Johnson's struggle to get Republicans on the same page.
    — Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 16 July 2026
Definition of yanks
Verb
  • Address messes immediately, use a cleaning caddy for convenience, and manage paperwork promptly.
    — Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 Sep. 2026
  • Ships, like airplanes, are designed with fluid dynamics in mind, and biofoul seriously messes that up.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 23 June 2026
Definition of messes

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priers
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Cite this Entry

“Pries.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pries. Accessed 4 Oct. 2026.

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