Phrasal verb spy on someone/something (Definition of spying from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
: a person employed by one nation to secretly convey classified information of strategic importance to another nation also : a person who conveys the trade secrets of one company to another 2 : an act of spying
Espionage, spying, or intelligence gathering, as a subfield of the intelligence field, is the act of obtaining secret, confidential, or in some way valuable information.
Spying is the act or process of finding out secret information for a country or organization about other countries or organizations. ...a ten-year sentence for spying.
/ˈspaɪɪŋ/ IPA guide Other forms: spyings Definitions of spying noun keeping a secret or furtive watch see more
- To engage in espionage. 2. To investigate or observe something, especially in secret: spying into the neighbor's activities.
a person who keeps close and secret watch on the actions and words of another or others. 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. the act of spying.
(transitive) to catch sight of; descry Etymology: 13th Century spien, from Old French espier, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German spehōn, Middle Dutch spien 'spying' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations): bug - curious - espial - espionage - outspy - spy - tout - undercover