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• Peeping Tom
  Peeping Tom

  noun

  a person who obtains sexual gratification by observing others surreptitiously, especially a man who looks through windows at night.
• peeping Tom
  peeping Tom

  One who derives pleasure, usually sexual, from secretly spying on others. (See voyeurism.)

Peeping Tom

American  

noun

1. a person who obtains sexual gratification by observing others surreptitiously, especially a man who looks through windows at night.

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Peeping Tom British  

noun

1. a man who furtively observes women undressing; voyeur

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peeping Tom Cultural  

1. One who derives pleasure, usually sexual, from secretly spying on others. (See voyeurism.)

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peeping Tom Idioms  

1. A person who secretly watches others, especially for sexual gratification; a voyeur. For example, The police caught a peeping Tom right outside their house. This expression, first recorded in 1796, alludes to the legend of the tailor Tom, the only person to watch the naked Lady Godiva as she rode by and who was struck blind for this sin.

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The original “peeping Tom” was a legendary resident of the town where Lady Godiva rode naked through the streets. According to the story, Tom defied official orders by looking out his window as she went by and was struck blind.

Etymology

Origin of Peeping Tom

First recorded in 1910–15; allusion to the legendary man who peeped at Lady Godiva as she rode naked through Coventry

Example Sentences

"It's like being a modern day peeping Tom," she says, referring to the number of homes she looks inside, all from the comfort of her smartphone.

From BBC • Oct. 5, 2024

The alleged peeping Tom appeared outside a residence on Pearl Street in North Nashville around 6 a.m. on Feb. 1, Feb. 2 and on Monday, the Metro Nashville Police Department said.

From Fox News • Feb. 9, 2022

The neighbor was arrested but eventually acquitted of murder charges, while Jefferies got convicted under the city’s recently enacted peeping Tom laws.

From Washington Post • Jan. 19, 2020

Bloom shape-shifts into a lawyer, tyrant and craven peeping Tom.

From Scientific American • Jun. 16, 2018

Well, there sat the poor woman,—you see, Mrs. Grundy, that she was no Godiva, nor I a peeping Tom.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 93, July, 1865 by Various