spy

[ spahy ]

/ spaɪ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR spy ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural spies.

a person employed by a government to obtain secret information or intelligence about another, usually hostile, country, especially with reference to military or naval affairs.

a person who keeps close and secret watch on the actions and words of another or others.

a person who seeks to obtain confidential information about the activities, plans, methods, etc., of an organization or person, especially one who is employed for this purpose by a competitor: an industrial spy.

the act of spying.

verb (used without object), spied, spy·ing.

to observe secretively or furtively with hostile intent (often followed by on or upon).

to act as a spy; engage in espionage.

to be on the lookout; keep watch.

to search for or examine something closely or carefully.

verb (used with object), spied, spy·ing.

to catch sight of suddenly; espy; descry: to spy a rare bird overhead.

to discover or find out by observation or scrutiny (often followed by out).

to observe (a person, place, enemy, etc.) secretively or furtively with hostile intent.

to inspect or examine or to search or look for closely or carefully.

Nearby words

sputter, sputtering, sputteringly, sputum, spuyten duyvil creek, spy, spy on, spy out, spy wednesday, spyglass, spyhole

Origin of spy

1200–50; (v.) Middle English spien, aphetic variant of espien to espy; (noun) Middle English, aphetic variant of espy a spy < Old French espie

Related forms

spy·ship, nounout·spy, verb (used with object), out·spied, out·spy·ing.su·per·spy, noun, plural su·per·spies.un·spied, adjective

un·spy·ing, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spied

This is an agency that spied on the very committee investigating it and whose current director is an admitted liar.
After Torture Report, Our Moral Authority As a Nation Is Gone|Nick Gillespie|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Biographer Jane Ridley has written of Edward VII, “He spied on Bertie, he whipped him, he treated him as a patient.”
Kate and William’s Royal Family Values|Tom Sykes|September 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Kim Kardashian We spied, with our little eyes, something that may not have been as curvy as it appeared.
James Franco and More Celebrity Social Media Fails|Marina Watts|April 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She hurried in the direction from which the soldier was fleeing and spied a man in combat fatigues.
How the Army Betrayed the Hero of Fort Hood|Michael Daly|April 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The last release of secret docs revealed the Security Service spied on Charlie Chaplin at the request of J Edgar Hoover's FBI.
The Daily Beast Looks Ahead: February 24 - March 2|Brandy Zadrozny|February 23, 2014|DAILY BEAST
She spied the sword, picked it up, and seeing the blood, let it fall again with her hands thrown wide.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. XII (of 25)|Robert Louis Stevenson
Neither of them worried about being overheard or spied upon.
What The Left Hand Was Doing|Gordon Randall Garrett
Then had he spied on my fore-finger a big ring of silver, very well double-gilted.
History of the Reformation in the Sixteenth Century, Volume V|J. H. Merle d'Aubigné
Duchemin, however, thought it safer than the water of the place, when he had spied out the associations of the well.
Alias The Lone Wolf|Louis Joseph Vance
An ammunition box was spied on the ground between the lines.
Australia in Arms|Phillip F.E. Schuler

British Dictionary definitions for spied

spy

/ (spaɪ) /

noun plural spies

a person employed by a state or institution to obtain secret information from rival countries, organizations, companies, etc

a person who keeps secret watch on others

obsolete a close view

verb spies, spying or spied

(intr usually foll by on) to keep a secret or furtive watch (on)

(intr) to engage in espionage

(tr) to catch sight of; descry

Word Origin for spy

C13 spien, from Old French espier, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German spehōn, Middle Dutch spien

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for spied (1 of 2)

spy

mid-13c., from Old French espier "to spy," probably from Frankish *spehon, from Proto-Germanic *spekh- (cf. Old High German *spehon "to look out for, scout, spy," German spähen "to spy," Middle Dutch spien), the Germanic survivals of the productive PIE root *spek- "to look" (see scope (n.1)).

Word Origin and History for spied (1 of 2)

spy

mid-13c., "one who spies on another," From Old French espie, probably from a Germanic source (see spy (v.)).

spy

noun, plural spies.

verb (used without object), spied, spy·ing.

verb (used with object), spied, spy·ing.

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Nearby words

Origin of spy

Examples from the Web for spied

British Dictionary definitions for spied

spy

noun plural spies

verb spies, spying or spied

Word Origin for spy

Word Origin and History for spied (1 of 2)

spy

Word Origin and History for spied (1 of 2)

spy