| Main Entry: | spy |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | person who secretly finds out about another's business |
Synonyms: |
agent, detective, double agent, emissary, espionage agent, foreign agent, informer, inside agent, intelligencer, investigator, lookout, mole, observer, operative, patrol, picket, plant*, scout, secret agent, secret service, sleeper, sleuth, snoop, spook, spotter, undercover agent, watcher |
| Main Entry: | spy |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | secretly follow, watch another's actions |
Synonyms: |
case, catch sight of, discover, examine, eyeball, fish out, get a load of, glimpse, keep under surveillance, look for, meddle, notice, observe, peep, pry, recon, reconnoiter, scout, scrutinize, search, set eyes on, shadow, sleuth, snoop, spot, stag, stake out, tail, take in, take note, trail, view, watch |
| Main Entry: | agent provocateur |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | secret agent |
Synonyms: |
agitator, firebrand, goad, incendiary, instigator, intelligence agent, noncooperator, operative, provocateur, provocative agent, provoker, rabble-rouser, radical, ringleader, spark, spy, troublemaker |
| Main Entry: | behold |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | regard; look at |
Synonyms: |
catch, consider, contemplate, descry, discern, distinguish, earmark, eye, eyeball, feast one's eyes, flash*, lay eyes on, note, notice, observe, perceive, regard, scan, see, spot, spy, survey, view, watch, witness |
| Main Entry: | bug |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | listen to without permission |
Synonyms: |
eavesdrop, listen in, overhear, spy, tap, wiretap |
| Notes: | a bug is a particular kind of insect, specifically belonging to the order Hemiptera (tough leathery forewings attached to the body - like ladybugs, beetles) while insects generally belong to the class Insecta, which have bodies in three segments, usually two pairs or wings and three pairs of legs (like bees, mosquitoes); spiders are not technically insects because they have four pairs of legs insect (from Latin animal insectum) literally meant 'divided animal' or 'cut up or into' from the segments of its body (head, thorax, abdomen) - the common word being 'bug'; insect is any of an extremely large group of small invertebrate animals - and most undergo metamorphosis while bug denotes a special group of insects with beaklike sucking mouth parts and partly membranous forewings |
| Main Entry: | detective |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | investigator of crime |
Synonyms: |
P. I., Sherlock Holmes, agent, analyst, bird dog, bloodhound, bull*, constable, cop, dick, eavesdropper, eye*, fed, fink, flatfoot, gumshoe, informer, nark, peeper, plainclothes officer, police officer, private eye, private investigator, prosecutor, reporter, roper, scout, sergeant, shadow*, shamus, shoofly, sleuth, slewfoot, snoop, spy, tail |
| Main Entry: | distinguish |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | discern, identify |
Synonyms: |
beam*, catch, descry, detect, dig, discover, discriminate, eye, eyeball, flash*, focus, get a load of, get an eyeful, know, make out, mark, note, notice, observe, perceive, pick out, pick up on, read, recognize, remark, see, spot, spy, take in, tell, view |
| Main Entry: | eavesdrop |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | listen without permission |
Synonyms: |
be all ears, bend an ear, bug, ears into, listen in, monitor, overhear, pry, snoop, spy, tap, tune in on, wire, wiretap |
Antonyms: |
ignore |
| Main Entry: | emissary |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | deputy |
Synonyms: |
agent, ambassador, bearer, carrier, consul, courier, delegate, envoy, front, go-between, herald, hired gun, intermediary, internuncio, legate, messenger, rep, representative, scout, spy |
| Main Entry: | enemy |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | someone hated or competed against |
Synonyms: |
adversary, agent, antagonist, archenemy, asperser, assailant, assassin, attacker, backbiter, bad person, bandit, betrayer, calumniator, competitor, contender, criminal, defamer, defiler, detractor, disputant, emulator, falsifier, fifth column, foe, guerrilla, informer, inquisitor, invader, murderer, opponent, opposition, other side, prosecutor, rebel, revolutionary, rival, saboteur, seditionist, slanderer, spy, terrorist, traducer, traitor, vilifier, villain |
Antonyms: |
aide, ally, assistant, confidante, friend, helper |