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| spy [ spī ] |
noun (plural spies) |
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| Definition: |
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1. somebody employed to obtain secret information: an employee of a government who seeks secret information in or from another country, especially about military matters
  a spy ring
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2. employee who obtains information about rivals: an employee of a company who seeks secret information about rival organizations
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3. secret observer of others: a watcher of other people in secret
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4. act of spy: an instance of acting as a spy
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verb (past and past participle spied, present participle spy·ing, 3rd person present singular spies) |
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| Definition: |
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1. intransitive verb act as spy: to work, operate, or function as a spy
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2. intransitive verb engage in espionage: to maintain a network of spies and gather intelligence in other clandestine ways
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3. intransitive verb observe in secret: to keep watch secretly or furtively on somebody or something in order to gain information
Have you been spying on us again?
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4. intransitive verb investigate: to try to discover information about something or somebody by means of intensive covert investigations
trying to spy into their customers' purchasing habits
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5. transitive verb see somebody or something suddenly: to catch sight of somebody or something, often by chance
I happened to look out of the window and spied him scuttling across the yard.
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6. transitive verb discover something by observation: to discover something by close observation
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| [13th century. < Old French espie< espier "to spy" < Germanic] |
