SURVEILLANCE


Meaning of SURVEILLANCE in English

sur ‧ veil ‧ lance /səˈveɪləns $ sər-/ BrE AmE noun [uncountable]

[ Date: 1800-1900 ; Language: French ; Origin: surveiller 'to watch over' , from sur- ( ⇨ ↑ surcharge ) + veiller 'to watch' (from Latin vigil ; , ↑ vigil ) ]

1 . when the police, army etc watch a person or place carefully because they may be connected with criminal activities

surveillance of

24-hour surveillance of the building

under surveillance

They were under constant close surveillance day and night.

The suspects were kept under surveillance.

electronic surveillance equipment

2 . when one country watches the military activities of another country to see what they are planning to do:

a surveillance mission

surveillance aircraft

3 . when doctors, health departments etc watch an ill person or watch the development of a disease in a population

under surveillance

Diane was placed under psychiatric surveillance.

• • •

THESAURUS

■ work that a spy does

▪ spying the action of secretly collecting information about a person, country, or organization:

Several embassy officials had been arrested for spying.

▪ espionage spying. Espionage is more formal than spying :

Zakharov was charged with espionage.

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The company carried out a campaign of industrial espionage against its main rival.

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Double agents are quite commonplace in the world of espionage.

▪ surveillance activity in which the police, army, etc watch a person or place carefully because they may be connected with criminal activities:

24-hour surveillance of the building

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The police have had him under surveillance (=have been watching him) for months.

▪ covert operations secret military activities against an enemy:

These planes are used by British Intelligence for covert operations.

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.      Longman - Словарь современного английского языка.