SPY • FREE-TRANSLATOR.COM • Definition of Spy

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/spaɪ/ Listen

noun

Spy n. (pl. spies)

1.

One who keeps a constant watch of the conduct of others. "These wretched spies of wit."

2.

(Mil.) A person sent secretly into an enemy's camp, territory, or fortifications, to inspect his works, ascertain his strength, movements, or designs, and to communicate such intelligence to the proper officer.

Spy money, money paid to a spy; the reward for private or secret intelligence regarding the enemy.

Spy Wednesday (Eccl.), the Wednesday immediately preceding the festival of Easter; so called in allusion to the betrayal of Christ by Judas Iscariot.

Synonyms: See Emissary, and Scout.

verb

Spy v. t. (past & past part. spied; pres. part. spying)

1.

To gain sight of; to discover at a distance, or in a state of concealment; to espy; to see. "One, in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration."

2.

To discover by close search or examination. "Look about with your eyes; spy what things are to be reformed in the church of England."

3.

To explore; to view, inspect, and examine secretly, as a country; usually with out. "Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof."

Spy v. i. To search narrowly; to scrutinize. "It is my nature's plague To spy into abuses."

See images of 'Spy'

Etymology of 'Spy'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Spy" Quotes from Famous Books

... The opposite bank was covered with pines and hemlocks, ascending high upwards, black and solemn. One knew that there must be almost a precipice behind, yet we could not see it. At the foot you could spy, a little way within the darksome shade, the roots and branches of the trees; but soon all sight was obstructed amidst the trunks. On the hither side, at first the bank was bare, then fringed with ...

— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 17, No. 100, February, 1866 • Various

... "She jes' wanted me to spy round, an' see if Mr. Hav'ley an' Miss Drane was fallin' in love with each other, an' then I was to go an' tell her about it the mornin' before she started. Now I'll have to keep it 'til she comes back, but I reckon thar ain't nothin' to ...

— The Girl at Cobhurst • Frank Richard Stockton

... (our party desired his death, but the recollection of my father made me ask his life). The King said that he himself would direct the whole affair at Perpignan; yet just before, Joseph, that foul spy, had issued from out of the cabinet du Lys. O Marie! shall I own it? at the moment I heard this, my very soul was tossed. I doubted everything; it seemed to me that the centre of the world was unhinged when I found truth quit the heart of the King. ...

— Serge Panine • Georges Ohnet

... among the crowd, The vicar first he spy'd, With sleeveless gown and bloody band And hands behind ...

— Cavalier Songs and Ballads of England from 1642 to 1684 • Charles Mackay

... could lie down and die. Who speaks of death? There is no absolution for self-murder. Why 'tis the greater sin of the two. There is More peril in't. What, sleep upon your post Because you are wearied? No, we must spy on And watch occasions. Even now they are ripe. I feel a turbulent throbbing at my heart Will end in action: for there ...

— Count Alarcos - A Tragedy • Benjamin Disraeli

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