spy
noun
[ spʌɪ ]
• a person employed by a government or other organization to secretly obtain information on an enemy or competitor.
Similar:
secret agent,
undercover agent,
enemy agent,
foreign agent,
secret service agent,
intelligence agent,
double agent,
counterspy,
industrial spy,
fifth columnist,
mole,
plant,
scout,
control,
handler,
spook,
snooper,
intelligencer,
beagle,
spy
verb
• work for a government or other organization by secretly obtaining information about enemies or competitors.
• "he agreed to spy for the West"
Similar:
be a spy,
be engaged in spying,
gather intelligence,
work for the secret service,
snoop,
espionage,
undercover work,
cloak-and-dagger activities,
surveillance,
reconnaissance,
intelligence,
eavesdropping,
cyberespionage,
infiltration,
counter-espionage,
counter-intelligence,
ninjutsu,
bugging,
wiretapping,
recon,
• discern or make out, especially by careful observation.
• "he could spy a figure in the distance"
Similar:
notice,
observe,
see,
spot,
sight,
catch sight of,
glimpse,
catch/get a glimpse of,
make out,
discern,
pick out,
detect,
have sight of,
clap/lay/set eyes on,
espy,
behold,
descry,
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’.
