INDEX:
1. to spy
2. someone who spies
RELATED WORDS
to secretly watch someone : ↑ WATCH (5)
see also
↑ SECRET
↑ FIND OUT
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1. to spy
▷ spy /spaɪ/ [intransitive verb]
to secretly collect information about an enemy government :
▪ A former US diplomat has confessed to spying.
spy on
▪ For years the satellite spied on secret weapon bases.
spy for
▪ Philby had been spying for the Russians for several years.
spying [uncountable noun]
▪ The 11 men had allegedly been involved in spying.
▪ He had been accused of spying and held without trial for ten years.
▷ espionage /ˈespiənɑːʒ/ [uncountable noun]
the collecting of political, military, or industrial secrets from another country or organization :
▪ Zakharov, a KGB agent, was charged with espionage.
industrial espionage
the collecting of secrets about a competing company
▪ The banks take precautions to prevent any attempts at industrial espionage while confidential documents are on the premises.
▷ be in the pay of /biː ɪn ðə ˈpeɪ ɒv/ [verb phrase]
if someone is in the pay of a country or organization, they are being paid by that country or organization to spy for them :
▪ Before becoming President, the general was in the pay of the CIA.
▪ There were persistent rumours that the former head of British Intelligence was in the pay of the Soviet Union.
▷ infiltrate /ˈɪnfɪltreɪtǁɪnˈfɪltreɪt, ˈɪnfɪl-/ [transitive verb]
to secretly join a group or organization whose principles or activities you strongly oppose, in order to find out more about them, or to harm them in some way :
▪ The Communists effectively infiltrated the government and the political parties.
▪ Police attempts to infiltrate neo-Nazi groups have been largely unsuccessful.
▪ Everyone knew the organization had been infiltrated by government agents, but could not prove it.
infiltrator [countable noun]
▪ There has always been a danger of enemy infiltrators in the organization.
infiltration /ˌɪnfɪlˈtreɪʃ ə n/ [uncountable noun]
▪ Finally, weakened by infiltration and sabotage, Black Aid Action folded in 1967.
▷ counterespionage /ˌkaʊntərˈespiənɑːʒ/ [uncountable noun]
the activity of trying to find out about and prevent an enemy from spying in your own country :
▪ His novels deal with the world of spies, espionage and counterespionage.
▪ the murder of two counterespionage officers
2. someone who spies
▷ spy /spaɪ/ [countable noun]
▪ He was suspected of having been a spy during the war.
▪ The job of the secret police was to hunt down spies and traitors.
▷ agent /ˈeɪdʒ ə nt/ [countable noun]
someone working for a government or police department who tries to get secret information about another country or organization :
▪ Wray was filmed passing money to an enemy agent.
▪ a book of memoirs written by a retired MI5 agent, Peter Wright
secret agent
▪ He had been a secret agent of the enemy all along.
▷ mole /məʊl/ [countable noun]
someone who works inside an organization who gives secret information to someone on the outside, for example a newspaper :
▪ The government suspects there is a mole who is leaking information to the press.
▪ The mole was discovered to be the 25-year-old secretary of the minister.