spy

American  

[spahy] / spaɪ /

noun

plural

spies

1. 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.

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

3. 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.

4. the act of spying.

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verb (used without object)

spied, spying

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

2. to act as a spy; engage in espionage.

3. to be on the lookout; keep watch.

4. to search for or examine something closely or carefully.

verb (used with object)

spied, spying

1. to catch sight of suddenly; espy; descry.

   to spy a rare bird overhead.

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

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

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

spy British  

/ spaɪ /

noun

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

2. a person who keeps secret watch on others

3. obsolete a close view

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verb

1. to keep a secret or furtive watch (on)

2. (intr) to engage in espionage

3. (tr) to catch sight of; descry

Other Word Forms

• outspy verb (used with object)
• spyship noun
• superspy noun
• unspied adjective
• unspying adjective

Etymology

Origin of spy

First recorded in 1200–50; (for the verb) Middle English spien, shortened from espien, espyen “to espy” ( espy ); (for the noun) Middle English, shortened from espy “a spy,” from Old French espie

Example Sentences

It wasn’t inevitable that “The Night Manager,” an adaptation of John le Carré’s 1993 spy novel, would have a sequel.

From Los Angeles Times

Ali Ardestani had been convicted of sharing information with Israel's spy agency Mossad and receiving money in the form of cryptocurrency in exchange, the judiciary's Mizan news agency said.

From Barron's

But work in the field didn’t pan out: Posted to Israel in the early 1950s, Mitrokhin was part of a spy group that was tainted by accusations of sloppy tradecraft.

From The Wall Street Journal

Last year MI5 was forced to apologise after it gave false evidence to three courts in a neo-Nazi spy and is currently under investigation by its regulator.

From BBC

If you wanted to create a setting for a spy school, then the campus of Sciences Po Saint-Germain on the outskirts of Paris seems a good fit.

From BBC

Related Words

• agent
• detective
• informer
• investigator
• mole
• operative
• secret agent
• secret service
• undercover agent