as in eavesdropping (on)
to listen to (another in private conversation)
it's not polite to listen in on other people's private conversations
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for listening in (on)
Verb
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These services do all the work for you by actively monitoring and systematically erasing your personal information from hundreds of websites.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
8 Mar. 2026 -
Now, county supervisors want the Sheriff’s Department to reverse that trend by beefing up safety checks, more closely monitoring cameras and increasing access to the overdose reversal drug Naloxone.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Safety glasses are a must, and hearing protection is essential when working with loud equipment.—
Daniel Scott,
Better Homes & Gardens,
5 Mar. 2026
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All Alawite children have had the experience of going to bed afraid after hearing horror stories of the violence under Ottoman rule.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
Verb
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But there is little doubt, officials and experts say, that spying efforts are intensifying as the world’s two dominant superpowers, the United States and China, battle for superiority across economic, technological, military and ideological fronts.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
26 Feb. 2026
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Arthur and Alysa were targeted at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing in a spying operation that the US Justice Department alleges was ordered by the Chinese government.—
Lea Veloso,
StyleCaster,
23 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Haley began making the octopi after overhearing a nurse saying some would be helpful in the NICU.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Feb. 2026
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The internal monologue is perhaps the more obvious choice for paranoid fiction, but by writing in dialogue, Dorfman puts us in the place of the listener with an ear pressed to a closed door, overhearing the anxious voices.—
James Folta,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Listening in (on).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/listening%20in%20%28on%29. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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