Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The practice of spying or of using spies to obtain secret information, especially regarding a government or business.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The practice of spying; secret observation of the acts or utterances of another by a spy or emissary; offensive surveillance.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun The practice or employment of spies; the practice of watching the words and conduct of others, to make discoveries, as spies or secret emissaries; secret watching.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun The act or process of learning secret information through
clandestine means.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the systematic use of spies to get military or political secrets
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Peruvian-Chilean relations have been generally good of late and Peruvian officials including Defense Minister Luis Alberto Otarola avoided the word "espionage" when questioned by reporters about the arrests of Serain and Pizarro.
SFGate: Don Asmussen: Bad Reporter By MARTIN VILLENA 2012
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The one thing allies have always done is engage in espionage against each other, particularly industrial espionage.
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She is also well-trained in espionage and tactical planning.
Hero Fans...Who Is Rebel? yearn4themoon 2009
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Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) is an undercover CIA superspy who decides to give up his career in espionage to settle down with his next-door neighbor and girlfriend, Gillian.
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He receives training in espionage, in combat, in all manner of spycraft, but when a mysterious “iron fog” begins immobilizing entire CITIES, the time for training is over …
Hero History: Dynamo | Major Spoilers - Comic Book Reviews and News 2009
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Paranoid and violent U.S. university espionage is closely related to institutional brutality.
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As far as economic espionage is concerned, no laws were broken in the acquisition of the item.
The Volokh Conspiracy » The Next iPhone — and the Criminal Law Angle 2010
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Mockingbird worked in espionage with SHIELD and who knows who else and just came back from years of abduction, but has no real history with Spidey.
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Cole engages in espionage, sets up traps and otherwise wreaks havoc with navy ships that wander in his part of the universe.
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Have you ever been or are you now involved in espionage or sabotage, or in terrorist activities, or genocide, or between 1933 and 1945, were involved in persecutions associated with Nazi Germany or its allies?
Stupid Questions/Bureaucratic Catch-22s « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website 2010
sonofgroucho commented on the word espionage
Makes spying sound so glamorous.
November 30, 2007