spy

Universal Words noun, verb noun (plural spies) a person who tries to get secret information about another country, organization, or person, especially sb who is employed by a government or the police: a government / police spy * He worked as a British spy in Russia. * a spy plane / satellite (= used to watch the activities of the enemy) * a spy ring * Video spy cameras are being used in public places. verb (spies, spying, spied, spied) 1 [V] to collect secret information about another country, organization or person: He spied for his government for more than ten years. 2 [VN] (literary or formal) to suddenly see or notice sb/sth: In the distance we spied the Pacific for the first time. IDIOMS spy out the land to collect information before deciding what to do PHRASALVERBS spy on sb/sth to watch sb/sth secretly: Have you been spying on me? spy sth<->out to get information about sth