as in to notice
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
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Recent Examples of espy
The film’s comedy is built from a series of infinitesimal touches and chance intrusions, as when Édouard, espying Charles in the street, leaps from his seat at a sidewalk café and jostles a waiter bearing drinks.
—
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024
Imprisoned by the Duke of Athens, the cousins espy the beautiful Emilia from their cell—and each man falls immediately in love.
—Andrea Mays, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 May 2024
If a basket-hanger was espied by the recipient, the recipient would give chase and try to steal a kiss from the basket-hanger.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 30 Jan. 2024
Images taken from different realities, different spaces, times, places that have been sort of cut out and pasted together to create a new scene that depicts something that no human eye would ever have espied.
—Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 13 Mar. 2023
Resentful 1970s émigrés were prodding the West to espy its true enemy not in communism, but in an irredeemable Russia.
—Ignat Solzhenitsyn, WSJ, 23 Oct. 2020
The cub tried to sneak up on him, but was quickly espied by the older lion.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 20 June 2019
For instance, visitors can scan through an electronic infographic for terrariums filled with camouflaging Gulf Coast toads, then head outside onto more than 2 miles of dirt and boardwalk trails to espy the bayou's flora and fauna.
—Beau Evans, NOLA.com, 6 Oct. 2017
Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 9 July 2024
Imprisoned by the Duke of Athens, the cousins espy the beautiful Emilia from their cell—and each man falls immediately in love.
—Andrea Mays, Smithsonian Magazine, 14 May 2024
If a basket-hanger was espied by the recipient, the recipient would give chase and try to steal a kiss from the basket-hanger.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 30 Jan. 2024
Images taken from different realities, different spaces, times, places that have been sort of cut out and pasted together to create a new scene that depicts something that no human eye would ever have espied.
—Philip Martin, Arkansas Online, 13 Mar. 2023
Resentful 1970s émigrés were prodding the West to espy its true enemy not in communism, but in an irredeemable Russia.
—Ignat Solzhenitsyn, WSJ, 23 Oct. 2020
The cub tried to sneak up on him, but was quickly espied by the older lion.
—Kelli Bender, PEOPLE.com, 20 June 2019
For instance, visitors can scan through an electronic infographic for terrariums filled with camouflaging Gulf Coast toads, then head outside onto more than 2 miles of dirt and boardwalk trails to espy the bayou's flora and fauna.
—Beau Evans, NOLA.com, 6 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for espy
Verb
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The ability to notice emotional shifts in others is a key part of developing empathy, one of the highest forms of emotional intelligence.—
Reem Raouda,
CNBC,
31 May 2026
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Fans also noticed that the show didn’t tag any of its contestants’ Instagram handles in this year’s announcement and that comments are already restricted on the Islanders’ personal pages, leading to speculation that the show has put new social media safeguards in place to alleviate harassment.—
Angela Yang,
NBC news,
31 May 2026
Verb
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Montenegro and Albania are seen as the frontrunners among the Western Balkans, while Ukraine and Moldova are moving closer to opening formal membership talks.—
Sam Meredith,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
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The 29-year-old checked out of the game and was seen limping back to the locker room as the first quarter came to an end.—
Jacob Lev,
CNN Money,
4 June 2026
Verb
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Instead of just releasing Mythos, which proved in testing to be adept at spotting security holes, Anthropic initially made the model available to 11 organizations, including Club names CrowdStrike and Palo Alto Networks .—
Zev Fima,
CNBC,
4 June 2026
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Howard’s eagle eyes spotted so many animals hiding in the bush and from great distances.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 June 2026
Verb
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Luckily Thomas, who’s eyeing an opening date of June 11, hasn’t run into any major building issues.—
Katelyn Umholtz,
Kansas City Star,
2 June 2026
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Passersby with timing and a certain derring-do have measured their odds and eyed their paths.—
Nathan Heller,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Espy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/espy. Accessed 4 Jun. 2026.
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