spynoun [ C ]
uk/spaɪ/us/spaɪ/B1 US also spook a person who secretly collects and reports information about the activities of another country or organization
Examples
- His former colleagues have denounced him as a spy.
- The organization had been penetrated by a spy.
- In the film, he plays a spy whose mission is to confirm the verity of a secret military document.
- The British spy, Kim Philby, defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.
- a spy network
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
International relations: spying and espionage
- agent
- agent provocateur
- counter-espionage
- counterintelligence
- debug
- deep state
- intelligence
- MI5
- MI6
- on the inside idiom
- operative
- phone tapping
- scout
- snoop
- spook
- spy on sb/sth
- tail
- tap
- the CIA
- wired up
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spyverb
uk/spaɪ/us/spaɪ/spy verb (FIND SECRETS)
C1 [ I ] to secretly collect and report information about the activities of another country or organization:
He was arrested for spying on missile sites.
spy out informal
to get knowledge secretly, especially of a place:
I generally like to spy out restaurants before I go to eat in them.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
International relations: spying and espionage
- agent
- agent provocateur
- counter-espionage
- counterintelligence
- debug
- deep state
- intelligence
- MI5
- MI6
- on the inside idiom
- operative
- phone tapping
- scout
- snoop
- spook
- spy on sb/sth
- tail
- tap
- the CIA
- wired up
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spy verb (SEE)
[ T ] old-fashioned or humorous to see or notice someone or something usually when it involves looking hard:
I think I've just spied Andrew in the crowd.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Using the eyes
- before your very eyes idiom
- beheld
- bore
- breathe
- come to sb's attention/notice idiom
- dart
- eye
- feast
- gawk
- get a load of that! idiom
- get him, her, you, etc.! idiom
- keep tabs on sth/sb idiom
- look-see
- observational
- out of/from the corner of your eye idiom
- passer-by
- rest
- sneak
- squint
- visual
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Idiom(s)
spy out the land
Phrasal verb(s)
spy on sb/sth