mata-mata
Britishnoun
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Etymology
Origin of mata-mata
from Malay, reduplicated plural of mata eye
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.
But we have entered the “mata-mata” stage – kill or be killed – and now only results count; few care how it’s done, as long as it’s done.
From The Guardian
The policeman chased him down to the river-bank— Mata-mata kejar juga sampei ka-tepi sungei.
From Project Gutenberg
There was a policeman watching in the street— Ada mata-mata sa’orang men-jaga di jalan.
From Project Gutenberg
Near the Tapajos we met a third species, called Matá-matá.
From Project Gutenberg
Their chief pa, Mata-mata, he seized by a piece of callous bad faith and murder.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
