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Synonyms

spy on

Idioms  

  1. Secretly or furtively observe someone or something, as in The children loved spying on the grownups, or The company sent him to spy on the competitor's sales force. [Early 1600s]

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.

“It gave me chills. What do you do with a window to the world? Spy on reality.”

From New York Times • Jul. 28, 2018

Spy on what’s going on underwater with your own underwater scope.

From National Geographic Kids • Jun. 26, 2017

Instead, he assigns her a task: Spy on the foreigner.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 17, 2011

But not even an all-star cast that included Toby Stephens and Donald Sinden could beat BBC1's Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice, which averaged 5.4 million viewers, 21% of the audience, between 8pm and 9pm.

From The Guardian • Dec. 30, 2010

Laleh and I taught Sohrab how to play I Spy on the drive back to Yazd.

From "Darius the Great Is Not Okay" by Adib Khorram

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.