espial
Americannoun
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the act of spying.
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the act of keeping watch; observation.
noun
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the act or fact of being seen or discovered
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the act of noticing
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the act of spying upon; secret observation
Etymology
Origin of espial
1350–1400; Middle English espiaille < Middle French. See espy, -al 2
Vocabulary lists containing espial
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Presently he moved forward, and, with head still bent, approached the lower end of the garden, where, in a wall higher than that over which Goldthorpe made his espial, there was a wooden door.
From The House of Cobwebs and Other Stories by George Gissing
He remembered his reluctant consent to McCloskey's proposal touching the espial upon Hallock, and was sorry he had given it.
From The Taming of Red Butte Western by Francis Lynde
From his new point of espial Kent checked off the members of the party.
From The Grafters by Francis Lynde
Her mother’s small mind yet had an uncanny power of partial divination, gained from years of experience and espial, that irritated while it impressed.
From The Wayfarers by Mary Stewart Doubleday Cutting
His rat-tat-tat brought to the door a thin yellow face, cautious in espial, through the narrow opening.
From Will Warburton by George Gissing
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
