SPY (spied)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: spied   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does spy mean? 

• SPY (noun)
  The noun SPY has 2 senses:

1. (military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors

2. a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people

  Familiarity information: SPY used as a noun is rare.

• SPY (verb)
  The verb SPY has 4 senses:

1. catch sight of

2. watch, observe, or inquire secretly

3. catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes

4. secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage

  Familiarity information: SPY used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SPY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

(military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

spy; undercover agent

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

intelligence agent; intelligence officer; operative; secret agent (a person secretly employed in espionage for a government)

Domain category:

armed forces; armed services; military; military machine; war machine (the military forces of a nation)

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

counterspy; mole (a spy who works against enemy espionage)

double agent (a spy who works for two mutually antagonistic countries)

espionage agent (someone employed to spy on another country or business competitor)

foreign agent (a spy for a foreign country)

infiltrator (someone who takes up a position surreptitiously for the purpose of espionage)

sleeper (a spy or saboteur or terrorist planted in an enemy country who lives there as a law-abiding citizen until activated by a prearranged signal)

Instance hyponyms:

Margarete Gertrud Zelle; Mata Hari (Dutch dancer who was executed by the French as a German spy in World War I (1876-1917))

Derivation:

spy (secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage)

spy (watch, observe, or inquire secretly)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Context example:

my spies tell me that you had a good time last night

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

looker; spectator; viewer; watcher; witness (a close observer; someone who looks at something (such as an exhibition of some kind))

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

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

shadow; shadower; tail (a spy employed to follow someone and report their movements)

Derivation:

spy (secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage)

spy (watch, observe, or inquire secretly)

• SPY (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they spy    ... he / she / it spies   
Past simple: spied   
Past participle: spied   
-ing form: spying   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Catch sight of

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

descry; espy; spot; spy

Hypernyms (to "spy" is one way to...):

sight; spy (catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

spying (the act of detecting something; catching sight of something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Watch, observe, or inquire secretly

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

sleuth; snoop; spy; stag

Hypernyms (to "spy" is one way to...):

monitor; supervise (keep tabs on; keep an eye on; keep under surveillance)

"Spy" entails doing...:

enquire; inquire; investigate (conduct an inquiry or investigation of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

spy ((military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors)

spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)

spying (keeping a secret or furtive watch)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Catch sight of; to perceive with the eyes

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Synonyms:

sight; spy

Context example:

he caught sight of the king's men coming over the ridge

Hypernyms (to "spy" is one way to...):

comprehend; perceive (to become aware of through the senses)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "spy"):

descry; espy; spot; spy (catch sight of)

detect; discover; find; notice; observe (discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 4

Meaning:

Secretly collect sensitive or classified information; engage in espionage

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

spy for the Russians

Hypernyms (to "spy" is one way to...):

enquire; inquire; investigate (conduct an inquiry or investigation of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

spy ((military) a secret agent hired by a state to obtain information about its enemies or by a business to obtain industrial secrets from competitors)

spy (a secret watcher; someone who secretly watches other people)

spying (the act of keeping a secret watch for intelligence purposes)

 Context examples 

One of them spied me, and gave notice to the rest; five of them advanced toward me, leaving the women and children at the fire.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He had some spy in the office who had told him of its existence.

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

We are spies in an enemy’s country.

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

Why should we not go up now at once and spy out the land?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

And they reckon you to be some spy.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I have watched you this half hour from the window; you must forgive my being such a spy, but for a long time I have fancied I hardly know what.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Certainly, just as spies frequent hostile camps.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

She had not spirits to notice her in more than a few repulsive looks, but she felt her as a spy, and an intruder, and an indigent niece, and everything most odious.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

But in the council one night, after long deliberation, it was determined to put spies on his track when he went forth to hunt, so that his methods might be learned.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

He loved to run down dry watercourses, and to creep and spy upon the bird life in the woods.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)