espionage
Americannoun
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the act or practice of spying.
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the use of spies by a government to discover the military and political secrets of other nations.
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the use of spies by a corporation or the like to acquire the plans, technical knowledge, etc., of a competitor.
industrial espionage.
noun
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the systematic use of spies to obtain secret information, esp by governments to discover military or political secrets
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the act or practice of spying
Other Word Forms
- nonespionage noun
Etymology
Origin of espionage
First recorded in 1785–95; from French espionnage, Middle French espionage, from espionn(er) “to spy” (derivative of espion “a spy,” from Italian spione, from Germanic ) + -age -age; espy
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.
Some of the cases related to serving as an unregistered foreign agent, a charge Bondi ordered prosecutors to stop pursuing unless they involved “conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.”
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026
A British man jailed with his wife in Iran on espionage charges has said they feel frightened by the war and abandoned by the British government.
From BBC • Mar. 23, 2026
Azerbaijan on Monday sentenced a Frenchman to 10 years in prison in an espionage case launched during a period of diplomatic tensions between Paris and Baku that have now eased.
From Barron's • Mar. 16, 2026
Mayor of Turkey's largest and richest city until his arrest, Imamoglu is facing allegations ranging from graft to embezzlement and espionage, alongside 407 other defendants, in an indictment that runs nearly 4,000 pages.
From Barron's • Mar. 9, 2026
Elizabeth's well-honed espionage skills kicked in immediately: She managed to conceal Jacob's true identity from the policemen who investigated his death, and she gathered and burned all his many papers in her apartment's fireplace.
From "Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia" by Marc Favreau
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.
