spy
noun
a person employed by a government to obtain secret information or intelligence about another, usually hostile, country, especially with reference to military or naval affairs.
had been spying
-
past perfect progressiveof spy.past perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that was ongoing continuously in the past up until another past event interrupted it.
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.
The U.S. report appeared to be based in part on signals intelligence, which suggests the United States had been spying on South Korea, one of its most important allies.
From Reuters ● Apr. 11, 2023
In 2021, the Pegasus Project, an investigation by a consortium of international journalists, revealed that the Indian government had been spying on more than 300 people, including journalists, activists, and politicians.
From Slate ● Jul. 13, 2022
Or that the National Security Agency had been spying on virtually every Afghan with a cell phone.
From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2021
“When she finished, Julia asked me if I had been spying on her because she thought that there were so many strange similarities with the character,” Mr. Safdie said.
From New York Times ● Dec. 9, 2019
We now know that Church had been spying for a long time.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
