spy

[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.
verb (used without object), spied, spying.
5.
to observe secretively or furtively with hostile intent (often followed by on or upon).
6.
to act as a spy; engage in espionage.
7.
to be on the lookout; keep watch.
8.
to search for or examine something closely or carefully.
verb (used with object), spied, spying.
9.
to catch sight of suddenly; espy; descry:
to spy a rare bird overhead.
10.
to discover or find out by observation or scrutiny (often followed by out).
11.
to observe (a person, place, enemy, etc.) secretively or furtively with hostile intent.
12.
to inspect or examine or to search or look for closely or carefully.
Origin
1200-50; (v.) Middle English spien, aphetic variant of espien to espy; (noun) Middle English, aphetic variant of espy a spy < Old French espie
Related forms
spyship, noun
outspy, verb (used with object), outspied, outspying.
superspy, noun, plural superspies.
unspied, adjective
unspying, adjective
Examples from the web for spy
  • That brings about the reason why she is being suspected as a spy for vermillion.
  • Agent provocateur a police spy who infiltrates a group to disrupt or discredit it.
  • The outlaws surrendered once being identify by the soldiers with the help of a spy.
  • Laser microphones are often portrayed in movies as a spy gadget.
  • spy sequences have also been seen in tv ads for mountain dew soda.
  • She is used as a spy to track them and, in one episode, used as a human bomb.
  • To a man with no nation, it is not wrong to help a german spy across the desert.
British Dictionary definitions for spy

spy

/spaɪ/
noun (pl) spies
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
verb spies, spying, spied
4.
(intransitive) usually foll by on. to keep a secret or furtive watch (on)
5.
(intransitive) to engage in espionage
6.
(transitive) to catch sight of; descry
Word Origin
C13 spien, from Old French espier, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German spehōn, Middle Dutch spien
Word Origin and History for spy
v.

mid-13c., from Old French espier "to spy," probably from Frankish *spehon, from Proto-Germanic *spekh- (cf. Old High German *spehon "to look out for, scout, spy," German spähen "to spy," Middle Dutch spien), the Germanic survivals of the productive PIE root *spek- "to look" (see scope (n.1)).

n.

mid-13c., "one who spies on another," From Old French espie, probably from a Germanic source (see spy (v.)).