english
1
general::
spy on sb/sth
to watch someone or something secretly, often in order to discover information about them
• He was spying on her through the keyhole.
Cambridge-Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
noun ADJ. enemy, government, police VERB + SPY act as, be, work as He denied acting as an enemy spy. | recruit (sb as) SPY + NOUN film, movie, novel, story, thriller | camera, plane, satellite | network, ring Counter-intelligence officers uncovered a spy ring involving twenty agents. PREP. ~ for He was a spy for the government. PHRASES a network of spies
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
3
general::
spy
someone whose job is to find out secret information about another country:
• Stalin controlled a network of spies. • The film is basically a spy story.
agent/secret agent
someone who works for a government or police department in order to get secret information about another country or organization:
• a secret agent working for MI5 • He is the FBI’s best undercover agent (= one who works secretly and pretends to be someone else ) .
double agent
someone who finds out an enemy country’s secrets for their own country but who also gives secrets to the enemy:
• a former CIA double agent who also worked for the KGB
mole
someone who works for an organization while secretly giving information to its enemies:
• A mole in the government was leaking information to the press.
informer
someone who secretly tells the police about criminal activities, especially for money:
• Acting on information from an informer, the police raided the house.
espionage
the work that spies do:
• He is serving a 20-year prison sentence for espionage.
Longman-Thesaurus
4
general::
spy
verbs
work as a spy
• He died while working as a government spy.
be arrested/imprisoned/shot etc as a spy
• Anyone caught working with the Resistance was shot as a spy.
ADJECTIVES/NOUN + spy
a British/American etc spy
• He was arrested on suspicion of being an American spy.
a foreign spy
• The activities of foreign spies have increased.
an enemy spy
• He gave information to enemy spies.
a government spy
• They thought I was a government spy.
spy + NOUN
a spy story/novel/movie etc
• John Le Carré is famous for writing spy stories. • one of the most exciting spy movies of all time
a spy ring
( also a network of spies ) (= a group of spies )
• He was well informed through his network of spies.
a spy satellite/plane
(= used for spying )
• The Americans have denied using spy satellites to spy on China. • The photographs were taken by spy planes.
a spy chief
( also a spymaster )
• Britain's first woman spy chief • John Le Carre 's fictional spy master George Smiley
transnet.ir
5
general::
noun
agent:
He was a spy for another country.
verb
peek:
We shall spy on their project.
Simple Definitions