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Spy
Definitions
- 1 A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).
"The dead leap at the throat, destroy The meaning of the day; dark forms Have scaled your walls, and spies betray Old secrets to amorphous swarms."
- 2 (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors wordnet
- 3 A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately.
- 4 a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people wordnet
- 1 To act as a spy. intransitive
"During the Cold War, Russia and America would each spy on each other for recon."
- 2 secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage wordnet
- 3 To spot; to catch sight of; to espy. transitive
"I think I can spy that hot guy coming over here."
- 4 watch, observe, or inquire secretly wordnet
- 5 To search narrowly; to scrutinize. intransitive
"(As I confeſſe it is my Natures plague / To ſpy into Abuſes, and of my iealouſie / Shapes faults that are not)"
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 catch sight of wordnet
- 7 To explore; to see; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country. transitive
- 8 catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes wordnet
Etymology
From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos). Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).
From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos). Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).
See also for "spy"
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