surveil

verb

sur·​veil sər-ˈvāl 

surveilled; surveilling

transitive verb

: to subject to surveillance

Examples of surveil in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

More specifically — and without spoiling a story that piles the twists as high as the corpses — Pine's an ex-British soldier pulled from his porter duties and recruited to surveil a ruthless arms dealer, Richard Roper (Hugh Laurie) staying at the hotel. —Matt Cabral, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Apr. 2026

Karp regularly defends Palantir when the company is criticized for providing tools used to surveil immigrants and Americans. —Samantha Subin, CNBC, 10 Apr. 2026

Under the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA), American telecoms are required to maintain systems to surveil unencrypted conversations when required by court order. —Kevin Collier, NBC news, 3 Apr. 2026

Recently, Customs and Border Protection was granted access to over 80,000 Flock cameras, which have also been used to surveil protests. —Jess Reia, The Conversation, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

back-formation from surveillance

First Known Use

1884, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for surveil

• airmail
• assail
• avail
• bewail
• blackmail
• cattail
• cocktail
• curtail
• derail
• detail
• dovetail
• email