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spy

Syllabification: (spy)
Pronunciation: /spī/

Translate spy | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of spy

noun (plural spies)

  • a person who secretly collects and reports information on the activities, movements, and plans of an enemy or competitor.
  • a person who keeps watch on others secretly: [as modifier]:a spy camera

verb (spies, spied, spying)

[no object]
  • work for a government or other organization by secretly collecting information about enemies or competitors:he agreed to spy for the West
  • (spy on) observe (someone) furtively:the couple were spied on by reporters
  • [with object] discern or make out, especially by careful observation:he could spy a figure in the distance
  • [with object] (spy something out) collect information about something to use in deciding how to act:he would go and spy out the land

Derivatives

spying

noun

Origin:

Middle English: shortening of Old French espie 'espying', espier 'espy', of Germanic origin, from an Indo-European root shared by Latin specere 'behold, look'

Spelling rule

If a word ends in a consonant plus -y (as in defy), change the -y to an -i before adding any ending (unless the ending already begins with an -i): (spies, spying, spied).

spy in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of spy in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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