eavesdropping

noun

eaves·​drop·​ping ˈēvz-ˌdrä-piŋ 

: the act of secretly listening to something private

Highly sophisticated means of electronic eavesdropping were developed and put into use, largely uncontrolled by the law.

—Wayne R. LaFave & Jerold H. Israel

For a moment, I was worried he'd found out about my eavesdropping the night before, but that didn't seem to be the problem.

—Rick Riordan

Examples of eavesdropping in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

More than a year after the tapes were shared, District Attorney Nathan Hochman charged Flores for violating a decades-old California eavesdropping statute that prohibits secret recordings without informed consent of all parties present. — ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026

Now, for the second straight summer, 49ers training camp goes on without him on the sideline — strolling, watching, eavesdropping, muttering. — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 18 Aug. 2026

Pearsall, a 59-year-old Long Beach resident, is also facing a criminal case with five felony counts of eavesdropping and more than two dozen misdemeanor counts of secretly filming or unlawful dissemination of private recordings. — Sean Emery, Oc Register, 6 Aug. 2026

Kevin Pearsall, 59, of Long Beach, faces five felony counts of eavesdropping, 23 misdemeanor counts of secretly filming another and three misdemeanor counts of unlawful dissemination of private recordings. — Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1641, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for eavesdropping

• intercropping
• overtopping
• telescoping
• chopping
• copping
• cropping
• dropping
• flopping
• hopping
• lopping
• mopping
• popping