Inflected forms: pl. spies ( spz) 1. An agent employed by a state to obtain secret information, especially of a military nature, concerning its potential or actual enemies. 2. One employed by a company to obtain confidential information about its competitors. 3. One who secretly keeps watch on another or others. 4. An act of spying.
1. To observe secretly with hostile intent. 2. To discover by close observation. 3. To catch sight of: spied the ship on the horizon.4. To investigate intensively.
INTRANSITIVE VERB:
1. To engage in espionage. 2. To seek or observe something secretly and closely. 3. To make a careful investigation: spying into other people's activities.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English spie, from Old French espie, from espier, to watch, of Germanic origin. See spek- in Appendix I.
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