spy
Americannoun
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spies
plural
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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.
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a person who keeps close and secret watch on the actions and words of another or others.
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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.
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the act of spying.
verb (used without object)
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spies,
present (3rd person singular)
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spied,
past participle, past
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spying
present participle
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to observe secretively or furtively with hostile intent (often followed by on orupon ).
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to act as a spy; engage in espionage.
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to be on the lookout; keep watch.
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to search for or examine something closely or carefully.
verb (used with object)
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spies,
present (3rd person singular)
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spied,
past participle, past
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spying
present participle
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to catch sight of suddenly; espy; descry.
to spy a rare bird overhead.
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to discover or find out by observation or scrutiny (often followed byout ).
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to observe (a person, place, enemy, etc.) secretively or furtively with hostile intent.
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to inspect or examine or to search or look for closely or carefully.
noun
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a person employed by a state or institution to obtain secret information from rival countries, organizations, companies, etc
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a person who keeps secret watch on others
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obsolete a close view
verb
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to keep a secret or furtive watch (on)
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(intr) to engage in espionage
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(tr) to catch sight of; descry
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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spysimple
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spiessimple
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have spiedperfect
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has spiedperfect
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am spyingprogressive
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are spyingprogressive
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is spyingprogressive
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have been spyingperfect progressive
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has been spyingperfect progressive
Past
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spiedsimple
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had spiedperfect
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was spyingprogressive
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were spyingprogressive
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had been spyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of spy
First recorded in 1200–50; (for the verb) Middle English spien, shortened from espien, espyen “to espy” ( see espy); (for the noun) Middle English, shortened from espy “a spy,” from Old French espie
Explanation
To spy is to secretly watch someone. It’s not recommended unless you’re actually a spy, a person who is hired by a government or organization to keep tabs on enemies. You might imagine a spy working for the CIA or the KGB, but there are also military spies who infiltrate their opponents' armies to get information, commit sabotage, or steal technology. Private businesses sometimes employ spies as well, to collect information about competitors. As a verb, to spy is to do what a spy does—or simply to see something: "I spy brownies on the kitchen counter!"
Vocabulary lists containing spy
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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.
See Examples For:
Outside the hotel hosting Flock’s conference, a scene out of a spy thriller unfolded.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
A dispute between a producer and Netflix over a missing copy of a World War II spy drama starring Nicolas Cage has now reached the Los Angeles Police Department.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
When I joked, “I didn’t realize I was communicating with the NSA,” without skipping a beat, he replied: “breaking news the fbi let a spy get shot 5 times!”
From Slate ● Aug. 20, 2026
Those thinking longer term, however, might spy an opportunity, as Wall Street expects the sector to perform better next year.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
Why would the Americans send in a spy plane now, unless it was some sort of last-second reconnaissance before the bombers swept in?
From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin
The Telegraph suggests Burnham's visit has also seen him receive a "gold mine" of secret battlefield intelligence to help "protect the UK from Russian spies and saboteurs".
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
The club had previously brought together the core of the Bloomsbury Group and, shortly before Hobsbawm’s time, the Soviet spies known as the Cambridge Five.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Sandy desperately wants Margarita to get a job but her first steps toward independence come when she spies a hobby horse rehearsal and becomes fixated on joining.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 16, 2026
One of North Korea's best-known spies was Jeong Su-il, who entered South Korea in 1984 posing as Muhammed Kansu, a Filipino-Lebanese academic.
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
After making sure no spies were watching, Duke would slap his paw on the stump because it had a secret wooden button.
From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein
The man who runs the IRS spied on colleagues while working at JPMorgan.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
Courtney Forrest, a lawyer for Bisignano, said in a statement that he never spied on co-workers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Press reports have detailed how ByteDance’s China-based engineers accessed sensitive data of American users and spied on U.S. journalists.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Most intriguing: A Krispy Kreme truck was spied pulling up to the arena.
From Salon ● Jul. 2, 2026
Washington left to our imagination exactly how Boudinot must have spied on prisoners.
From "George Washington, Spymaster" by Thomas B. Allen
Billionaires like New York Knicks owner James L. Dolan reportedly use spying tech to harass people who criticize them.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Last year a Chinese national was convicted for passing on information about flight schedules and cargo movements at Leipzig-Halle airport to a man spying for Beijing.
From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026
The Justice Department green lights the app for U.S. officials, despite spying worries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026
Does housing and spying czar Bill Pulte want another brass nameplate for his collection?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
“The spying children! Are they here?” the man spat impatiently.
From "When the Sea Turned to Silver" by Grace Lin
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.
