pry

Pry is a verb with two common senses. It can mean to use force or leverage to open or separate objects, as in prying open a lid. It can also mean to inquire into someone’s private affairs in an intrusive manner, often phrased as “to pry into” someone’s business. As a noun, pry can refer to the act of prying, or to a tool designed for prying, most commonly a crowbar or similar lever.

In everyday use, prying usually implies applying leverage or intrusive questioning. Phrases such as “pry open,” “pry into,” and “pry bar” are typical, with the latter denoting a hand tool used for lifting, separating, or removing nails.

In computing, Pry is the name of an interactive Ruby programming language REPL (read–eval–print loop). It provides an enhanced alternative to the standard IRB console, offering advanced introspection, syntax highlighting, and a rich command set. Developers can require the Pry library in a Ruby program and insert binding.pry to pause execution and inspect or modify the program state. Typical features include object inspection, context navigation (for example, cd into objects or modules), command-line history, and built-in commands such as ls and show-method. Pry also supports plugins that extend its capabilities, making it a popular tool for debugging, exploring code, and learning Ruby.

See also: crowbar (as a physical pry tool), IRB, Ruby.