private eye

American  

noun

Slang.

1. a private detective.

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private eye British  

noun

1. informal a private detective

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private eye Idioms  

1. A privately employed detective, as opposed to one working for the police or another authority. For example, The children loved stories about private eyes, and Janey wanted to become one. This expression comes from the term private investigator, the “i” of investigator being changed to “eye,” which plays on the idea of a person looking into things. [1930s]

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Etymology

Origin of private eye

1935–40; eye, allusive phonetic rendering of I, abbreviation of investigator

Related Words

• P.I.
• inquiry agent
• private detective
• private dick
• private investigator
• sleuth