EAVESDROPPER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does eavesdropper mean? 

• EAVESDROPPER (noun)
  The noun EAVESDROPPER has 1 sense:

1. a secret listener to private conversations

  Familiarity information: EAVESDROPPER used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EAVESDROPPER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A secret listener to private conversations

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("eavesdropper" is a kind of...):

attender; auditor; hearer; listener (someone who listens attentively)

snoop; snooper (a spy who makes uninvited inquiries into the private affairs of others)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "eavesdropper"):

phone tapper; tapper; wiretapper (someone who wiretaps a telephone or telegraph wire)

Derivation:

eavesdrop (listen without the speaker's knowledge)

 Context examples 

I suppose that we are absolutely safe from eavesdroppers?

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)