eavesdrop

[eevz-drop]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR eavesdrop ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object), eaves·dropped, eaves·drop·ping.

to listen secretly to a private conversation.

verb (used with object), eaves·dropped, eaves·drop·ping.

Archaic. to eavesdrop on.

noun Also eaves·drip [eevz-drip] /ˈivzˌdrɪp/.

water that drips from the eaves.

the ground on which such water falls.

Origin of eavesdrop

before 900; (noun) Middle English evesdrope, evesdripe, Old English yfesdrype; as v., probably back formation from eavesdropper, late Middle English evisdroppyr, apparently literally, one who stands on the eavesdrop in order to listen to conversations inside the house; see eave, drop, drip

Related formseaves·drop·per, nounan·ti·eaves·drop·ping, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for eavesdrop

snoop, overhear, spy, wire, tap, monitor, pry, bug, wiretap

Examples from the Web for eavesdrop

Contemporary Examples of eavesdrop

NCIS managed to eavesdrop on phone calls Wright made to his mother, Valerie Burgess.
The Navy ‘Hero’ Who Pimped an HIV-Positive Teen
M.L. Nestel
December 11, 2014
But the FSB has far more power to eavesdrop on Russian and foreign citizens than the FBI or the NSA.
Sorry, Snowden: Putin Lied to You About His Surveillance State—And Made You a Pawn of It
Eli Lake
April 18, 2014
One of the most popular is the X-37B can sneak up and eavesdrop on other satellites.
Will The Pentagon’s Secret Space Plane Ever Return to Earth?
Kyle Mizokami
April 7, 2014
A brilliant look into the lives of the 1980s East German Stasi (Secret Police) and the civilians they spy and eavesdrop on.
Shawn Ryan’s Favorite War Movies
Shawn Ryan
September 26, 2012
He was also a dead-on mimic, the kind of guy who could eavesdrop on a snatch of conversation and instantly spoof both ends.
The Story of the American Journalists Who Landed on D-Day
Timothy M. Gay
June 6, 2012

Historical Examples of eavesdrop

Let us hope that Eavesdrop will sketch off Henbane, and that Henbane will poison him for his trouble.
Crotchet Castle
Thomas Love Peacock
With no desire to eavesdrop, Mr. Green could not avoid overhearing the conversation.
The Building of a Book
Various
So I judged I'd got to do the other thing—lay for them and eavesdrop.
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Complete
Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
I said to him, 'It won't do, daddy, for you to eavesdrop at our doors.
A Family of Noblemen
Mikhal Saltykov
"You'd think there were better things to eavesdrop on than fishes," said Urson.
The Jewels of Aptor
Samuel R. Delany

British Dictionary definitions for eavesdrop

eavesdrop

verb -drops, -dropping or -dropped

(intr) to listen secretly to the private conversation of others

Derived Formseavesdropper, noun

Word Origin for eavesdrop

C17: back formation from earlier evesdropper, from Old English yfesdrype water dripping from the eaves; see eaves, drop; compare Old Norse upsardropi

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for eavesdrop

c.1600, probably a back-formation from eavesdropper. Related: Eavesdropping.