Pry information out of someone

[Tedwonny]

According to Cambridge Online dictionaries, Oxford Advanced learner's dictionaries and many others, 'pry' is an intransitive verb and is usually followed by 'into' and an 'object. A native English teacher wrote to me ... "pry information out of him".

I was then wondering if it can be used in this way - pry as a transitive verb + information + out of + someone.

Thanks a lot

 

[Champleon]

Yes, you can. Mainly in AmE. BE prefers "prize"

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Yes.

The literal meaning in American usage is use leverage to open or remove: Use this knife to pry the oyster open.

Pry from and pry out of mean extract from by force or remove from by force. Both can be literal or figuratve:

- Pry the nail from of the board.

- Pry the information out of him.

Pry into is different. It means use force to enter or use force to open:

- When the two words are kept together, it's usually figurative: Don't pry into my affairs.

- When the two words are separated, the meaning can be literal: The door was so damaged that we had to pry our way into the house.

 

[Roman55]

I am not a teacher.

There are two separate and unrelated verbs.

Pry = to look into someone's private affairs.

Pry = to open/extract by force (often using leverage), and it is the equivalent of prise not prize.

 

[Champleon]

I have found this:
Origin of pry
Alteration of prize3.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition Copyright © 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
3 pry pries prying pried
If you pry something such as information out of someone, you persuade them to tell you although they may be very unwilling to. (mainly AM; in BRIT usually use prize)
...their attempts to pry the names from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
VB

(c) HarperCollins Publishers.

 

[bhaisahab]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition Copyright © 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company is wrong. It's "prise".

 

[MikeNewYork]

Several dictionaries list "prize" and "prise" as acceptable variants for that use.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

I am not a teacher.

There are two separate and unrelated verbs.

Pry = to look into someone's private affairs.

Pry = to open/extract by force (often using leverage), and it is the equivalent of prise not prize.

They're separate, but don't they seem very related to you? If you think she knows what happened, pry it out of her.

 

[bhaisahab]

Several dictionaries list "prize" and "prise" as acceptable variants for that use.

If they are saying that "prize" is BrE, they are wrong.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I didn't say that. But your pronouncement that American Heritage was wrong was not correct.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's wrong in its assertion that "prize" is the BrE variant. That is completely incorrect. It's "prise" in BrE and always has been.

 

[MikeNewYork]

The dictionary did not say that.

 

[bhaisahab]

The dictionary did not say that.

This is what Champleon posted:
Origin of pry
Alteration of prize3.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition Copyright © 2013 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
3 pry pries prying pried
If you pry something such as information out of someone, you persuade them to tell you although they may be very unwilling to.(mainly AM; in BRIT usually use prize)
...their attempts to pry the names from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
VB

(c) HarperCollins Publishers.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Ah! OK, that may well be wrong.

 

[bhaisahab]

Ah! OK, that may well be wrong.

It is wrong.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I have checked American Heritage Dictionary with both spellings and have not found that citation.

 

[Champleon]

After having looked up the word "pry" in The Online Etymology Dictionary, I am more confused now than before.