prise
/pɹaɪz/
prise verb: to force (open) with a lever; to pry. Also the obsolete form of prize.
Verb
prise (third-person singular simple present prises, present participle prising, simple past and past participle prised)
- To force (open) with a lever; to pry.
- I think he must have been trying to prise open that box yonder when he was attacked.1919, Sax Rohmer, The Quest of the Sacred Slipper
- Come, force the gates with crowbars, prise them apart!c. 1925, Jack Lindsay, translation of Lysistrata
- To extract something that is difficult to obtain.
- prise information out of someone
Noun
prise (plural prises)
- An enterprise or adventure.
- In which I may record the memory Of my loves conquest, peerlesse beauties prise1595, Edmunde Spenser [i.e., Edmund Spenser], “[Amoretti.] Sonnet LXIX”, in Amoretti and Epithalamion. […], London: […] [Peter Short] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC
Also used as
prise is also the obsolete form of prize.
Examples of prise in a sentence
- Most people used pliers, scissors, rubber gloves and knives to try to prise open products.2004 February 2, “'Wrap rage' hitting the over-50s”, in BBC News:
- The priority is to help prise hikikomori out of their rooms and get them back to work, a solution that may leave psychological issues unaddressed.2019 June 6, Motoko Rich, “Japan’s Extreme Recluses Already Faced Stigma. Now, After Knifings, They’re Feared.”, in The New York Times...
Forms of prise
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | prises |
| present participle | prising |
| past participle | prised |
| past | prised |
| alternative form | prize |
| Noun | |
| plural | prises |
Origin of prise
From the Middle English noun prise (“taking of something”), from Old French prise (“seizure; taking; capture”), past participle of prendre (“to take”). Doublet of prize.
Phrases with prise
Words that rhyme with prise
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- arise
- capsize
- comprise
- guise
- revise
- abscise
- agrise
- apprise
- chastise
- despise
- flys
- guys
- lyse
- palatalize
- pies
- skies
- snies
- sties
- supplies
- surmise
- ties
- tries
- velarize
- aguise
- applies
- authorize
- ayes
- belies
- brise
- buys
- byes
- complies
- cries
- dies
- dries
- dyes
- excise
- eyes
- flies
- flyes
- four eyes
- frankenpies
- fries
- Frise
- hies
- highs
- home fries
- i's
Questions about prise
- What does prise mean?
- Prise means to force (open) with a lever; to pry.
- How do you use prise in a sentence?
- Most people used pliers, scissors, rubber gloves and knives to try to prise open products.
- What part of speech is prise?
- Prise can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce prise?
- Prise is pronounced /pɹaɪz/.
- What is the past tense of prise?
- The past tense of prise is prised.
Words near prise in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: prise (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-prize.ogg.
Cite this entry: “prise.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/prise. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.