ESPYING Synonyms: 49 Similar and Opposite Words

espying

verb

present participle of espy

as in noticing

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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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for espying

Verb

Bernard was on a color walk, a simple scavenger hunt organized around intentionally noticing a certain color—and how much of it is hiding in your ordinary surroundings.

— Angela Haupt, Time, 20 Oct. 2026
Also worth noticing is the timestamp, showing when a specific voting location’s wait time was last updated.

— Eleanor Dearman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of noticing

Verb

Other possible uses include detecting weak magnetic signals from the heart and muscles, improving navigation, and spotting underground magnetic anomalies.

— Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026
For more help spotting suspicious sellers, see our guide on how to tell whether an online store is real or a scam.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Definition of spotting

Verb

Thinking that writing code was the only bottleneck for deploying new software is like the Titanic seeing the tip of the iceberg and assuming there was nothing underneath it.

— Brian Jenney, IEEE Spectrum, 23 Oct. 2026
Reading a book, a poem, seeing a painting or a sculpture, or even hearing the intro of a song.

— Laird Borrelli-Persson, Vogue, 23 Oct. 2026

Definition of seeing

Verb

Newsom, who's preparing to leave office in January and eyeing a 2028 presidential run, argued the mandate would improve workplace collaboration and innovation, which will help government better serve the public.

— ABC News, ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026
For individual investors eyeing the spin-off, Ritter offered a measured outlook.

— Robert Gray, Fortune, 20 Oct. 2026

Definition of eyeing

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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espy

espying

esquire

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“Espying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/espying. Accessed 25 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of espying

verb

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