# spy

Pronunciation: say "SPY" /spaɪ/

## Noun

1. A person who secretly observes the actions of individuals or organizations and gathers information about them, usually to gain an advantage.
   - Simple: Someone who secretly watches people or groups to collect hidden information, often for an enemy or a government.
   - _The government arrested a spy who had been selling military secrets to a foreign power._
   - _She worked for years as a spy, reporting on factory output from inside the company._
6. A defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man, ready in case that player runs with the ball instead of giving it up right away.
   - Simple: In football, a defender assigned to closely watch one offensive player who might run with the ball.
   - _The defensive coordinator assigned a spy to track the scrambling quarterback all game._
   - _Without a spy watching him, the mobile quarterback gained yards on nearly every play._

## Verb

2. To operate as a spy, secretly observing others and gathering information for an advantage.
   - Simple: To work secretly as someone who collects hidden information about people or groups.
   - _They were recruited to spy for a foreign intelligence service._
   - _He spied for both sides throughout the conflict, trusted by neither._
3. To catch sight of something; to spot or notice it, especially at a distance.
   - Simple: To suddenly see or notice something, often from far away.
   - _Hikers often spy deer grazing in the meadow at dawn._
   - _He spied the lighthouse beam just before the fog closed in._
4. To explore, inspect, and examine a place secretly, such as a country or enemy territory, in order to gather information.
   - Simple: To secretly explore and examine a place, such as enemy land, in order to learn about it.
   - _The general ordered men to spy the coastline for possible landing sites._
   - _Two scouts spied the valley before the rest of the company moved through._
5. To search narrowly and with close attention; to scrutinize.
   - Simple: To look very closely and carefully in order to find or check something.
   - _The auditor spied minutely into the accounts, hunting for irregularities._
   - _Careful reviewers spy into the smallest discrepancies before approving a report._

## Origin

It comes from Middle English spien, a shortened form of espien ("to espy"), from Old French espier ("to spy"), which goes back through Frankish and Proto-Germanic to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to look." It is related to German spähen and Dutch spieden, both meaning "to spy."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/spy (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).