es ‧ py /ɪˈspaɪ/ BrE AmE verb ( past tense and past participle espied , present participle espying , third person singular espies ) [transitive]
[ Date: 1300-1400 ; Language: Old French ; Origin: espier ; ⇨ ↑ spy 2 ]
literary to suddenly see someone or something SYN spy