spy

1 of 2

verb

ˈspī 

spied; spying

transitive verb

1

: to watch secretly usually for hostile purposes

There is a story that Washington … sat with his glass, spying the movements across the water in Boston.

—Horace E. Scudder

2

: to catch sight of : see

spied her friends in the crowd

3

: to search or look for intensively

—usually used with out

… spy out places fit for vending … goods …

—Samuel Eliot Morison

intransitive verb

1

: to observe or search for something : look

2

: to watch secretly as a spy

spying for the government

—often used with on

spying on a rival company

spy

2 of 2

noun

plural spies

1

: one that spies:

a

: one who keeps secret watch on a person or thing to obtain information

b

: a person employed by one nation to secretly convey classified information of strategic importance to another nation

also : a person who conveys the trade secrets of one company to another

2

: an act of spying

Synonyms of spy

Verb

• spot
• eye
• notice
• see
• regard

Noun

• operative
• agent
• undercover
• mole

Examples of spy in a Sentence

Verb

They were accused of spying for a foreign government.

I spy a motel off in the distance, so let's spend the night there.

Noun

He was a spy for the CIA.

My coworker is a spy for the boss.

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

More accolades followed, as Wyatt's steamy Bold entrance on a 2013 episode (being spied naked in an outdoor shower by Kim Matula's Hope Logan) announced a major new player in the soap's setting in the cutthroat Los Angeles fashion industry. —Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 25 May 2026

But Southampton’s expulsion following the spying scandal has handed Middlesbrough an extraordinary reprieve — and the betting market has reacted in their favour. —Dean Jones, New York Times, 23 May 2026

Noun

The bar was set high from here, but even the best Bond games have only superficially tackled the essence of the spy fantasy. —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 28 May 2026

New intelligence shows that nearly 500,000 Russian soldiers have been killed since Vladimir Putin launched his country's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to Anne Keast-Butler, the new head of the United Kingdom's communications and cyber spy agency. —Ramy Inocencio, CBS News, 28 May 2026

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English spien, from Anglo-French espier, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German spehōn to spy; akin to Latin specere to look, look at, Greek skeptesthai & skopein to watch, look at, consider

First Known Use

Verb

13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing spy

• spy on
• spy out
• spy out the land

Rhymes for spy

• ai
• aye
• bae
• bi
• buy
• by
• bye
• chai
• chi
• cry
• die
• dry

Kids Definition

spy

1 of 2 verb

ˈspī 

spied; spying

1

: to watch, inspect, or examine secretly : act as a spy

2

: to catch sight of : see

spied a friend in the crowd

spy

2 of 2 noun

plural spies

1

: one that watches the movement or actions of others especially in secret

2

: a person who tries secretly to obtain information for one country in the territory of another usually unfriendly country