as in notices
to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes
out of the corner of my eye I espied the squirrel making another raid on the bird feeder
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for espies
Verb
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When someone gets up to go to the bathroom, everyone notices everything!—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
21 Feb. 2026 -
At one point, the man, whom authorities describe as approximately 5 feet 9 to 5 feet 10 with an average build, notices the camera on the front porch and tries to cover the lens with his hand.—
Hannah Fry,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Ultimately, Yu sees a future with a standalone Europe operation, to be carried out in three steps.—
Xiaoying You,
semafor.com,
24 Feb. 2026
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Sasha Stiles sees them as expressions of the same impulse.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Subsequently, the filmmaker became enamored with airplanes and transferred that same fascination onto Lil Ant, who eyes the planes overhead with palpable yearning and, at one point, shoplifts a toy plane from a store.—
Vikram Murthi,
IndieWire,
29 Jan. 2026
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Talarico’s numbers are notable and underscore the Senate Democratic primary will be hard-fought as the party eyes the chance to flip a Senate seat in the Lone Star State.—
Caroline Vakil,
The Hill,
2 Jan. 2026
Verb
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SacRT will be using the data to perform field surveys of the danger spots and come up with potential safety ideas.—
James Taylor,
CBS News,
25 Feb. 2026
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Bateman’s festival comes at a moment when Gen AI is starting to engulf Hollywood and creative work, as Seedance videos featuring Hollywood celebs go viral, Sora is gaining a foothold via Disney’s deal with OpenAI and Super Bowl spots fully incorporate the tech.—
Steven Zeitchik,
HollywoodReporter,
24 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Espies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/espies. Accessed 27 Feb. 2026.
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