espionagees‧pi‧o‧nage /ˈespiənɑːʒ/ noun [uncountable] 
a campaign of industrial espionage against his main rival → counter-espionage
WORD ORIGINespionage
Origin:
1700-1800 French espionnage, from espion ‘spy’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- The banks take precautions to prevent any attempts at industrial espionage while confidential documents are on the premises.
- Zakharov, a KGB agent, was charged with espionage.
- She knew little about espionage and, until this murder case, cared less.
- Terror and danger in the world of intrigue and espionage.
- The men, convicted on espionage charges, had been sentenced to 15-year prison terms in 1987.
- Three months later, the Soviets convicted him of espionage.
THESAURUS
someone whose job is to find out secret information about another country: · Stalin controlled a network of spies.· The film is basically a spy story.
someone who works for a government or police department in order to get secret information about another country or organization: · a secret agent working for MI5· He is the FBI’s best undercover agent (=one who works secretly and pretends to be someone else).
someone who finds out an enemy country’s secrets for their own country but who also gives secrets to the enemy: · a former CIA double agent who also worked for the KGB
someone who works for an organization while secretly giving information to its enemies: · A mole in the government was leaking information to the press.
someone who secretly tells the police about criminal activities, especially for money: · Acting on information from an informer, the police raided the house.
the work that spies do: · He is serving a 20-year prison sentence for espionage.
Longman Language Activatorto 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.
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.
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.
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.
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
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY a campaign of industrial espionage against his main rivalCOLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
the activity of secretly finding out secret information and giving it to a country’s enemies or a company’s competitors SYN spying: a campaign of industrial espionage against his main rival· Whitehall denies that Echelon is involved in industrial espionage, but admits that its aims include countering industrial espionage by others.· The Computer Security Institute, which conducted the survey, said the losses were caused by industrial espionage, hacking and fraud.· Whitehall denies that Echelon is involved in industrial espionage, but admits that its aims include countering industrial espionage by others.· The possibility of their involvement can not be ruled out at this stage, but neither can industrial espionage.· Finally, we need a transatlantic understanding on industrial espionage.· The strength of the desire to gain particular techniques is often reflected by the extent to which industrial espionage was resorted to.· Under the second category they considered investigations by private detectives, industrial espionage, technical surveillance devices, and finally computers.
NOUN· The men, convicted on espionage charges, had been sentenced to 15-year prison terms in 1987.
a campaign of industrial espionage against his main rival → counter-espionage