Price, Prise, and Prize

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Price, Prise, and Prize

What is the difference between "price," "prise," and "prize"?
  • "The price" is the cost of something. For example:
    • What is the price of that car?
      • ("Price" rhymes with "rice.")
  • "To prise" (usually "to prise open") is a British English variant spelling of "to prize open." ("Prise" is pronounced "prize.") For example:
    • I used my hands to prise the dog's mouth open. () ()
    • I used my hands to prize the dog's mouth open. () ()
      • ("Prize" is also used in British English.)
  • "A prize" is a reward given in recognition of an achievement. For example:
    • The first prize in the competition was a week's holiday in California.
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More about "Price," "Prise," and "Prize"

Price

The word "price" is most often used as a noun meaning the cost of something. However, it can also be used as a verb meaning to set the price. For example:
  • Do not price the car too highly.
    • (In this example, "price" is a verb.)

Prise

The verb "to prise" means to use force to move something, move something apart, or open something. "Prise" can also mean to use effort or force to obtain information from somebody. The spelling of the verb "to prise" only exists in British English. In American English, the verb is "to prize."

Examples:
  • Most fishmongers use a short-bladed knife to prise open oysters. () ()
    • ("Prise" is usually features in a phrasal verb, e.g., "to prise open," "to prise out.")
  • Together, we prised the information out of her. () ()

Prize

The noun "prize" refers to a reward given in recognition of an achievement. When "prize" is used as a verb, it is either a variant spelling of "prise" (see above) or it means to highly value something or someone.

Examples:
  • The worth of a prize depends on the people who have received it before you. (Spanish writer Antonio Munoz Molina)
    • (Here, prize is a noun.)
  • Journalists prize independence not teamwork. (American writer Ken Auletta)
    • (Here, the word "prize" is a verb.)
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See Also

adverse or averse? affect or effect? appraise or apprise? avenge or revenge? bare or bear? complement or compliment? dependant or dependent? discreet or discrete? disinterested or uninterested? e.g. or i.e.? envy or jealousy? imply or infer? its or it's? material or materiel? poisonous or venomous? practice or practise? principal or principle? cannot or can not? who's or whose? What are nouns? List of easily confused words