英语词汇“spying”的英英意思、用法、释义、翻译、读音、例句、短语、词组-英语词典

WORD ORIGINspy2

Origin:

1200-1300 Old French espier

VERB TABLE

spy

Simple Form
Present	I, you, we, they	spy
	he, she, it	spies
Past	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	spied
Present perfect	I, you, we, they	have spied
	he, she, it	has spied
Past perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had spied
Future	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will spy
Future perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have spied

Continuous Form
Present	I	am spying
	he, she, it	is spying
	you, we, they	are spying
Past	I, he, she, it	was spying
	you, we, they	were spying
Present perfect	I, you, we, they	have been spying
	he, she, it	has been spying
Past perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	had been spying
Future	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will be spying
Future perfect	I, you, he, she, it, we, they	will have been spying

EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES

A former US diplomat has confessed to spying.
For years the satellite spied on secret weapon bases.
I spied him standing on the other side of the room.
Philby had been spying for the Russians for several years.

EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS

Boxing: Jacobs spies the ladder.
He said Hanssen had begun spying in 1979 and stopped voluntarily in 1981.
Lili sensed that she was being spied on, but she didn't care.
Pope has insisted he was not spying and the materials he purchased were not secret.
There was no way I was going across to follow Ewen Mackay to spy on his activities at the house.
Wilkinson spied a conspiracy to resist all the evidence that this chemical was dangerous.

THESAURUSwork 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.· The company carried out a campaign of industrial espionage against its main rival.· 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· 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 Language Activatorto spy► spy

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.

► espionage

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

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

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.

► counterespionage

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

someone who spies► spy

· 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

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 Wrightsecret agent: · He had been a secret agent of the enemy all along.

► mole

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.

to secretly watch a person or place► watch

· The thieves had obviously been watching his house and knew when he was likely to be out.· He had the feeling that he was being watched.watch somebody's movements (=watch someone as they go to different places) · Detectives have been watching Mr Heskey's movements for some time.

► spy on somebody

to watch someone secretly, in order to find out information about them: · Mathers admitted he had followed Ms Evans and spied on her.

► keep a watch on

if the police keep a watch on a person or place, a group of them are organized to watch that person or place continuously: · Our orders were to keep a 24-hour watch on the cottage where the men were staying.

► surveillance

when people, especially the police or government officials secretly watch a place or person, especially for a long period, often using special equipment such as hidden cameras: · Television surveillance in public areas should help to make housing developments safer.surveillance camera: · Banks are installing surveillance cameras to prevent robberies.under surveillance (=being secretly watched): · The men had been under surveillance by customs officers for some time before their arrest.keep somebody/something under surveillance (=secretly watch someone or something): · The terrorists had been kept under constant surveillance by our officers.

► observation

when people watch a place or person carefully for a period of time: under observation (=being watched): · A patrol car spotted us and the officers inside made it clear that we were under observation.keep somebody/something under observation (=watch someone or something): · We want that place kept under constant observation.

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES► a spy plane

· An unmanned US spy plane had been shot down.

COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB► on

· Lili sensed that she was being spied on, but she didn't care.· He spied on Agnes, he hated to admit it.· It was my favorite wedding ever, although I think the wedding I spied on went well, too.

► out

· She would spy out the lie of the land and write to him.· She enticed into her house the party Odysseus dispatched to spy out the land, and there she changed them into swine.· Certainly he would have gone down there alone to spy out the land and check on his property.· Rex spied out Sam Maggott hollering at all and sundry and making good use of his over-sized red gingham handkerchief.· He also spied out the Tomorrowman's barman.· Well, he kept taking a few sips and peeping around the door to spy out the whereabouts of the principal.· I just wish they spied out something more entertaining than water and doctors.

NOUN► land

· Certainly he would have gone down there alone to spy out the land and check on his property.· She enticed into her house the party Odysseus dispatched to spy out the land, and there she changed them into swine.

VERB► accuse

· They are being held hostage with three other peacekeeping officials after being accused of spying for the Phnom Penh Government.· He is accused of spying for more than 15 years in exchange for $ 1.4 million in cash and diamonds.

PHRASES FROM THE ENTRY► spy out the land

Certainly he would have gone down there alone to spy out the land and check on his property.
She enticed into her house the party Odysseus dispatched to spy out the land, and there she changed them into swine.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► nest of spies/thieves/intrigue etc

Neville Chamberlain wrote that the Cabinet was a nest of intrigue, which was, considering everything, an understatement.
Perhaps we're in the middle of a nest of spies whom Meredith-Lee was about to unmask.

► suspected burglar/terrorist/spy etc

He was attacked in Sandbach after confronting a suspected burglar.