SPYING • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Spying

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/spˈaɪɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Spy v. t. (past & past part. spied; pres. part. spying)

To gain sight of; to discover at a distance, or in a state of concealment; to espy; to see. "One, in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration."

To discover by close search or examination. "Look about with your eyes; spy what things are to be reformed in the church of England."

To explore; to view, inspect, and examine secretly, as a country; usually with out. "Moses sent to spy out Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof."

Spy v. i. To search narrowly; to scrutinize. "It is my nature's plague To spy into abuses."

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Etymology of 'Spying'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Spying" Quotes from Famous Books

... that the shepherd waked from sleeping, And, spying where the day was peeping, He said, 'Now take my soul in keeping, My sweetest dear! Kiss me, and take my soul in keeping, Since I must go, ...

— Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age • Various

... but nearing Donchery hesitates on account of the crowd; and spying a solitary cottage near by, asks if ...

— Blood and Iron - Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its - Founder, Bismarck • John Hubert Greusel

... what was the best thing to do. What sort of a game was this that he had stumbled upon? What was this woman doing over at the Island at 2.30 a.m. in weather like this? Who was she? Why was she spying upon Stinson's little party, if that was what she had been up to? It was a situation with which any young man of zest and imagination might find interest in dallying. How ...

— Every Man for Himself • Hopkins Moorhouse

... sparks of light they emitted, they would have been undiscernible. The expression of his face was like that of a wiry terrier, being derived partly from his occupation, which, in his opinion, required him to be as vigilant in spying out offenders as the aforesaid peppery animal, in scenting vermin, and being partly the gift of nature. But though the person of Basset was small, such was not his opinion of himself. That was in an inverse ratio to his size, and at ...

— The Lost Hunter - A Tale of Early Times • John Turvill Adams

... flask, and, clasping an arm about Spike's swaying form, led him from the room, while Hermione stood rigid and watched them go. But when the door had closed behind them, she bowed her head upon her hands and sobbed miserably, until, spying the half-emptied flask through her tears, she sprang forward, and snatching it from the table, dashed it ...

— The Definite Object - A Romance of New York • Jeffery Farnol

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