surveil

[ser-veyl]

verb (used with object), sur·veilled, sur·veil·ling.

to place under surveillance.

Origin of surveil

First recorded in 1965–70; back formation from surveillance

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for surveilling

Contemporary Examples of surveilling

Included in these documents were Hong Kong and Chinese IP addresses that the NSA was surveilling.
Snowden’s Beijing Benefactors?
Gordon G. Chang
January 3, 2014
Al-Ruqai is specifically charged with surveilling the U.S. embassy in Nairobi in preparation for the attack.
Gripping His Koran, Anas al-Liby Has His Day in Court
Michael Daly
October 16, 2013
FBI agents are said to have observed him surveilling his alleged target on August 9.
Undercover Muslim Agents: Mission Accomplished
Michael Daly
October 19, 2012
Eventually, the organization was surveilling much of the American left.
A Jewish Group's Shameful Smear
Michelle Goldberg
October 15, 2010
Investigators had been surveilling Zazi for quite some time.
Feds on a Terror Tear
Karen Greenberg, Francesca Laguardia
September 29, 2009

British Dictionary definitions for surveilling

surveil

verb (tr)

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

Word Origin for surveil

C20: back formation from surveillance

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

Word Origin and History for surveilling

surveil

1904, back-formation from surveillance. Sometimes also surveille. Related: Surveilled; surveilling.