surveil

American  

[ser-veyl] / sərˈveɪl /

verb (used with object)

surveilled, surveilling

1. to place under surveillance.

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surveil British  

/ sɜːˈveɪl /

verb

1. to observe closely the activities of (a person or group)

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Etymology

Origin of surveil

First recorded in 1965–70; back formation from surveillance

Explanation

To surveil is to spy on someone, the way a television private eye sits in her car and uses binoculars to surveil the show's villain. The noun surveillance came first, from the French surveiller, "to oversee or watch." If you were to surveil someone, you'd keep a close eye on them, monitoring everything they do. These days, that means keeping track of their online activity as well as their phone calls and physical movement. It's usually authority and governmental figures doing the surveillance — although if a company wants to sell you something, they just might surveil your internet history.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

surveil surveilled surveilling

A joint statement said the new project would see "cutting edge payloads and enabling systems" developed for UUVs which could protect seabed infrastructure, conduct strikes, surveil and do reconnaissance, and conduct logistics operations.

From BBC ● May 30, 2026

Critics worry that the quieter, nimbler drones will be used to surveil the public with little oversight.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2026

Tech companies like Google and Meta are not the only recourse for the federal government to surveil social media users.

From Salon ● Mar. 12, 2026

Anthropic doesn’t want its products used to surveil Americans or create autonomous machines of war.

From Slate ● Feb. 27, 2026

More recently, student protests over price increases of mobile-phone data plans didn’t gain traction because of the fear of repression, as intelligence services surveil college activities.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 6, 2026

There’s a trade-off: We experience a little emotional discomfort by being constantly surveilled, but we are rewarded with the more physical comforts of safety and efficiency.

From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2026

In the indictment, the government alleges that protesters blocked ICE facilities and surveilled and harassed government employees while communicating in a Signal group chat, which they say was used to identify government vehicles.

From Salon ● Jun. 23, 2026

Like Adam, many people were led to believe they were being surveilled and were in danger.

From BBC ● May 2, 2026

"We're already being surveilled by billions of smartphones, city camera networks and smart devices that we willingly placed in our homes."

From Barron's ● Jan. 11, 2026

I'm a senior at Cesar Chavez high in San Francisco's sunny Mission district, and that makes me one of the most surveilled people in the world.

From Little Brother by Doctorow, Cory

"Between 2018 and 2023, apparently there was a resurface of major trafficking and transiting in Liberia. Over the last one-and-a-half years, we've been surveilling them and this is the result of that operation," said Coleman.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

He spoke as cheers echoed off the skyscrapers dotted around the World Trade Center, where Knicks gathered alongside National Guard troops surveilling the area.

From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026

After three days of surveilling the site from orbit, the unit determined it was a Russian meeting spot for planning operations, members said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

In the most technical sense, none of this violates the red lines that Amodei outlined around surveilling Americans or allowing its tech to power fully autonomous killing machines.

From Slate ● Mar. 3, 2026

“They’re watching us in here, too? Are we allowed to use the bathroom privately, or are they surveilling our bodily functions as well?”

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed