eavesdrop
verb (used without object)
to listen secretly to a private conversation.
have eavesdropped
-
present perfectof eavesdrop.present perfect
Used to describe actions that started in the past and continue into or have direct relevance to the present.
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.
For the first time, scientists have eavesdropped year-round on the songs of bowhead whales, the little-heard whales that roam the Arctic under the ice.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 3, 2018
BST05:55 I do wish I could have eavesdropped the moment when George Osborne chatted with Austria’s finance minister.
From The Guardian ● May 12, 2015
I have eavesdropped on grad students presenting dissertations about the subtext of neocolonialism in my writing.
From Scientific American ● Apr. 25, 2013
He could have eavesdropped on my telephone conversations or siphoned off my E-mail.
From Time Magazine Archive
No station up there is near enough to have eavesdropped upon our capture, but the whole thing must have come out by now.
From Tarrano the Conqueror by Ray Cummings
