spies

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of spy.

   A network of spies operated quietly across occupied Europe.

   Counterintelligence units exist to catch spies before they obtain classified material.

   Note

   The consonant-plus-y rule at work: the y becomes i and takes -es, as in cities or ladies. The plural covers both kinds of spy. One is the secret agent gathering intelligence. The other is the football defender assigned to shadow a back man-to-man. The same spelling is also the present-tense verb, and a determiner such as the, or a phrase like a network of, marks the noun.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of spy.

   The detective spies a small inconsistency in the witness's account.

   Whenever the cat spies a bird at the window, it freezes completely.

   Note

   A verb with two quite different jobs. With a direct object it usually means simply catching sight of something, with no secrecy implied, much like espies. Without one it means acting as a spy, and the target comes in with on. Its spelling follows the same y-to-ies change as the plural noun, so the sentence around it shows which word is meant: a subject before it marks the verb.

   From the hilltop she spies a sail on the horizon.

   He spies on his neighbors from behind the curtains.

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