释义 |
▪ I. ˈprying, vbl. n.1 [f. pry v.1 + -ing1.] The action of pry v.1; narrow peering or examination; inquisitive search.
1611Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. viii. i. §9. 377 There with a narrow prying was sought out the fibra, or veine of the heart on the left side. 1894Athenæum 24 Feb. 238/3 Their prying into every detail of private life. ▪ II. prying, vbl. n.2 see pry v.2 ▪ III. ˈprying, ppl. a. [f. pry v.1 + -ing2.] That pries; unduly or impertinently curious; inquisitive; diligently inquiring.
1552Huloet, Priynge knaues, limaces uiri. 1608D. T[uvil] Ess. Pol. & Mor. 90 b, A prying eye, a listning eare, and a prating tongue, are all birds of one wing. 1693J. Edwards Author. O. & N. Test. 20 Such things as..no prying historian is able to discover. 1778Foote Trip Calais iii. Wks. 1799 II. 365 She is as suspicious and prying as a customhouse officer. 1822–34Good's Study Med. (ed. 4) III. 57 Analyzed in turn, by the most dextrous and prying anatomists of England, France, Germany, and Italy, but with no satisfactory result. 1845James A. Neil II. iv, They are a sad prying, gossiping race. |