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spying

English · Thesaurus

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spying¹

  • /ˈspaɪ.ɪŋ/

Rhymes with -aɪɪŋ

Where it comes from

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

verb

  1. gerund, participle, present present participle and gerund of spy

spying²

  • /ˈspaɪ.ɪŋ/

Rhymes with -aɪɪŋ

Where it comes from

Inherited from Middle English spyinge, spiyng, spyeng, equivalent to spy + -ing.

noun spyings

  1. countable, uncountable espionage; the act of secretly gathering information There are two ways in which the obsessive character of jealousy tends to exert itself: one is in the need to know, the endless tests and investigations and spyings that are so characteristic of jealousy.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: detection, espial, spotting, catching, undercover work, espionage, snooping, reconnaissance, eavesdropping, intelligence, peeking, peek, wiretapping, spyware, espy, spycraft

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Cite this
MLA

"spying." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/spying. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

spying. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/spying

Chicago

"spying." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/spying.

BibTeX
@misc{spying_2026,
  title = {spying},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/spying},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}