wiretap

verb

Definition of wiretapnext
as in to tap

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of wiretap That’s why law enforcement can’t just wiretap us all at will. — The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 10 Oct. 2025 As attorney general, Robert Kennedy approved Hoover's request in 1963 to wiretap King amid concerns that King was associating with communists. — Marc Caputo, Axios, 15 Feb. 2025 Bitdefender also manages programs that wiretap you through the microphone. — PCMAG, 13 Jan. 2025 The courts ultimately denied the order, but only because enabling the FBI to wiretap the car in that case would have meant turning off other safety features. — Margo Anderson, IEEE Spectrum, 8 Feb. 2016 See All Example Sentences for wiretap
Recent Examples of Synonyms for wiretap
  1. tap
  2. bug
  3. spy
  4. overhear
Verb
  • Soccer fans tap to enter the Vine City MARTA station after the South Africa verses Czechia match on Thursday, June 18, 2026.
    — Doug Turnbull, AJC.com, 2 Aug. 2026
  • For five days and most of a sixth, The Athletic’s Ambition Index was tapping its toes like Sonic the Hedgehog, waiting to see some ambition.
    — Tim Britton, New York Times, 2 Aug. 2026
Definition of tap
Verb
  • Lift sheets, curtains and cushions to check for bed bugs or signs of bed bugs before settling in.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 18 July 2026
  • The National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine, a law-enforcement agency known as NABU, had bugged Mindich’s apartment in Kyiv, and detectives picked up his conversations about Fire Point.
    — Simon Shuster, The Atlantic, 17 July 2026
Definition of bug
Verb
  • Beijing — An American scientist who has studied underground nuclear tests has been detained in China for more than 18 months on spying charges, according to his supporters and a US lawmaker.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
  • The band’s members were among the first to spy a spark from a circuit breaker that may have set off the blaze that roared across the ceiling, which experts suspect was covered with highly combustible material.
    — Tian Macleod Ji, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Definition of spy
Verb
  • Burial is far and away the blueprint here, evident in the vespertine pads, tape hiss, and hauntological vocal flips, deployed as if overheard from a distant astral plane.
    — Hattie Lindert, Pitchfork, 23 July 2026
  • But, as tends to happen on these types of shows, Alex manages to overhear their conversation.
    — Allison DeGrushe, Entertainment Weekly, 19 July 2026
Definition of overhear

Browse Nearby Words

wires
wiretap
wiretapped
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Wiretap.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/wiretap. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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