molehuntn.
/ˈməʊlhʌnt/, U.S. /ˈmoʊlˌ(h)ənt/ An investigation which seeks to expose and catch moles (mole n.3 3b) or other informants.
ΚΠ
1980 Christian Sci. Monitor (Nexis) 1 Aug. 7 Britain's courts have embarked on a ‘mole’ hunt—with potentially serious consequences for the celebrated freedom of the press here.
1987 N. West (title) Molehunt: the full story of the Soviet spy in MI5.
1995 Independent 10 Oct. 16/7 If Simkins and White had stepped adroitly, the history of the Cambridge Ring and the subsequent ‘molehunt’ would have terminated happily.
Derivatives
ˈmole-hunter n.
ΚΠ
1981 Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 5 Apr. 19 His US counterpart, and a mole-hunter of considerable fame, was James Jesus Angleton, head of counter-intelligence for the CIA.
1995 Time (Nexis) 22 May 54 The KGB..did everything it could to deflect the attention of the [CIA] mole hunters and send them down blind alleys.
ˈmole-hunting n.
ΚΠ
1981 Guardian Weekly (Nexis) 5 Apr. 19 As many of his latest charges..depend heavily on information from self-styled ‘loyal’ secret servicemen, it is important to get his mole-hunting act in perspective.
1988 H. H. A. Cooper & L. J. Redlinger Catching Spies v. 220 Mole hunting has..often to be undertaken in a psychologically unfavorable climate in which the security services..are regarded as derelict in their duty.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1980