listening post

American  

noun

1. Military. a post or position, as in advance of a defensive line, established for the purpose of listening to detect the enemy's movements.

2. any foreign country or city viewed as a source of intelligence about an enemy or rival nation or one that is a potential enemy.

3. any concealed position maintained to obtain information.

   The government had listening posts to keep informed of revolutionary activities.

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listening post British  

noun

1.  LP.  military a forward position set up to obtain early warning of enemy movement

2. any strategic position or place for obtaining information about another country or area

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Etymology

Origin of listening post

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

Situated close to the Iron Curtain, neutral Austria was a convenient listening post during the Communist era, according to Siegfried Beer, historian and founder of the Austrian Center for Intelligence, Propaganda and Security Studies.

From BBC • Nov. 16, 2018

He also spent countless, monotonous hours gathering intelligence at a listening post about sinister figures who lurked in the shadows and closely monitored the movements of Border Patrol agents.

From Washington Times • Mar. 9, 2018

He set up a listening post on a cliffside to intercept Cuban radio transmissions.

From The New Yorker • Feb. 18, 2017

After negotiations with the environmentalists, Dr. Munk and Scripps agreed to move the listening post farther off the California coast and prioritize a study of the sounds’ effects on marine mammals.

From New York Times • Aug. 24, 2015

From the window of the listening post in the Howard Johnson’s, McCord’s assistant watched the Watergate building through a pair of binoculars.

From "Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War" by Steve Sheinkin