spy (up)on someone or something

spy (up)on someone or something
spy (up)on someone or something
to watch someone or something to learn secret or concealed information. (

Upon

is formal and less commonly used than

on

.) •

Are you spying upon me?

I wasn't spying on you! I was just trying to see who you were.


Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • spy — spy1 [ spaı ] verb * 1. ) intransitive to work as a spy: He was accused of spying for a foreign government. 2. ) spy or spy out transitive MAINLY LITERARY to notice someone or something: I spy a mistake. spy on phrasal verb transitive spy on… …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • spy — spy1 [spaı] n plural spies someone whose job it is to find out secret information about another country, organization, or group = ↑secret agent British/Russian/foreign etc spy ▪ a Soviet spy spy ring/network (=an organized group of spies) spy… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • spy — 1 noun (C) someone whose job it is to find out secret information about another country, organization, or group: a British spy in World War II | a spy film 2 verb 1 (I) to secretly collect information about an enemy country or an organization you …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • spy — [[t]spa͟ɪ[/t]] spies, spying, spied 1) N COUNT A spy is a person whose job is to find out secret information about another country or organization. He was jailed for five years as an alleged British spy... The spy ring passed secrets to the enemy …   English dictionary

  • spy */ — I UK [spaɪ] / US noun [countable] Word forms spy : singular spy plural spies a) someone whose job is to find out secret information about a country or an organization b) [only before noun] involving spies or their activities a spy… …   English dictionary

  • spy — [spaɪ] noun [C] I someone whose job is to find out secret information about a country or an organization Syn: secret agent II verb spy [spaɪ] 1) [I] to work as a spy 2) [T] literary to notice someone or something • spy on sb …   Dictionary for writing and speaking English

  • spy on — phrasal verb [transitive] Word forms spy on : present tense I/you/we/they spy on he/she/it spies on present participle spying on past tense spied on past participle spied on 1) spy on someone to watch someone secretly so that you know everything… …   English dictionary

  • I-spy — n. a game in which players try to identify something observed by one of them and identified by its initial letter. * * * I spy /īˈspīˈ/ noun 1. A wordgame, in which one guesses objects in view, whose names begin with a certain letter of the… …   Useful english dictionary

  • I-spy — noun uncount a children s game in which players try to guess what object someone is thinking of by knowing the first letter of it. The game begins by one player saying I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • I-spy — UK / US noun [uncountable] a children s game in which players try to guess what object someone is thinking of by knowing the first letter of it. The game begins by one player saying I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with …   English dictionary

  • List of gadgets in the Spy Fox series — The following is a list of gadgets that appear in the Spy Fox series of games produced by Humongous Entertainment. Spy Gadgets in the series are built by Professor Quack, who stocks the Spy Gadget vending machine with them.The gadgets have been… …   Wikipedia

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