spy

[ spahy ]

/ spaɪ /

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See synonyms for: spy / spied / spies / spying 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.

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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

OTHER WORDS FROM spy

spyship, nounoutspy, 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. 2022

How to use spy in a sentence

Silveti and his team of spies would need to hijack the truck carrying the spacecraft on the evening it left the exhibition.
Lunik: Inside the CIA’s audacious plot to steal a Soviet satellite|Bobbie Johnson|January 28, 2021|MIT Technology Review
During his short tenure, Pack has generated controversy by removing veteran managers, accusing VOA of harboring foreign spies and seeking to influence VOA’s news coverage, despite regulations barring political appointees from doing so.
Voice of America overseer spent $2 million investigating employees, complaint alleges|Paul Farhi|January 19, 2021|Washington Post
While, yes, the phone could in theory double as a spy camera, the normal human hand is normally too shaky to actually take great photos.
Samsung says its Galaxy S21 phones work better, have four back cameras — and cost $200 less|Geoffrey Fowler|January 14, 2021|Washington Post
In this view, critical journalists and bloggers are potential terrorists, extremists or spies, and civic activists and nongovernment organizations may be labeled foreign agents.
In Russia, tough new laws and stepped-up defiance abroad mark Putin’s shift toward unfettered control|Robyn Dixon|December 27, 2020|Washington Post

A mission yesterday with a U-2 spy plane out of California saw an onboard AI system working together with a pilot.
An AI just copiloted a U-2 spyplane for the very first time|Rob Verger|December 16, 2020|Popular-Science
And of course, he was even spied on by the NSA under Project MINARET.
Ava DuVernay on ‘Selma,’ the Racist Sony Emails, and Making Golden Globes History|Marlow Stern|December 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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
For its part, the East German government spied on him and monitored his scripts.
Brecht's Mercenary Mother Courage Turns 75|Katie Baker|September 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The latest Snowden leak is big news, but old news: civil-rights leaders spied on because of who they are.
New NSA Bombshell Proves ‘Muslim’ Equals ‘Suspicious’ in America|Dean Obeidallah|July 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Just across the alley from this point, Black Hood spied a wood telephone pole.
Hooded Detective, Volume III No. 2, January, 1942|Various
The kindness with which Madame Roland was treated was soon spied out by those in power.
Madame Roland, Makers of History|John S. C. Abbott
Walking through the orchard one day after a hard wind-storm, she spied several large red apples lying in the soft sand.
The value of a praying mother|Isabel C. Byrum
Right near the bay window, in the thick lilac tree, Marmaduke spied Red Robin's nest.
Seven O'Clock Stories|Robert Gordon Anderson
Daffyd had heard that we were to cross from Tenby, having had all the doings of Owen spied upon since the winter.
A Prince of Cornwall|Charles W. Whistler

British Dictionary definitions for spy

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