surveilling

verb

present participle of surveil
as in spying

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for surveilling
  1. spying
  2. monitoring
  3. snooping
Verb
  • It is understood Kering plans to build on the foundation left by Vaccarello, also spying additional opportunities in jewelry.
    — Miles Socha, Footwear News, 12 Oct. 2026
  • Invariably, the goal of this kind of espionage is to help key sectors in the spying country rapidly replicate or surpass American advances.
    — DAVID S. COHEN, Foreign Affairs, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of spying
Verb
  • September was the first month that Iran loaded no crude onto tankers since maritime data tracking service Kpler began monitoring Iranian exports in 2013.
    — Tim Lister, CNN Money, 11 Oct. 2026
  • According to Iran Human Rights Monitor, the force has evolved into a powerful internal security institution involved in suppressing anti-government demonstrations, monitoring political activity and enforcing the regime's ideological restrictions.
    — Emma Bussey, FOXNews.com, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of monitoring
Verb
  • An alcoholic drink will give you a buzz, but if someone laced it with something dangerous, a new poison-snooping patch will buzz your skin to warn you.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Cady had injected some narcotic into a Georgia peach to knock Natalie out ahead of his confrontation with Crystal on the houseboat, but Ray snooping around on the Bowdens’s behalf led to this deadly improvisation.
    — Scott Tobias, Vulture, 10 July 2026
Definition of snooping
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.

Browse Nearby Words

surveilled
surveilling
surveils
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Surveilling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surveilling. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of syncretic

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All