| 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: | 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: | investigate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | check into thoroughly |
Synonyms: |
be all ears, bug, case*, check out, check over, check up, consider, delve, dig, examine, explore, eyeball, feel out, frisk, give the once over, go into, inquire, inquisite, inspect, interrogate, listen in, look into, look over, look-see, make inquiry, muckrake, nose around, poke, probe, prospect, pry, put to the test, question, read, reconnoiter, research, review, run down, scout, scrutinize, search, sift, spy, stake out, study, tap, wiretap |
Antonyms: |
ignore |
| Main Entry: | pry |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | interfere in someone else's business |
Synonyms: |
be a busybody, be all ears, be curious, be inquisitive, be nosy, bug*, ferret out, gape, gaze, hunt, inquire, intrude, investigate, listen in, meddle, nose, peek, peep, peer, poke, poke nose into, ransack, reconnoiter, rubberneck, search, snoop, spy, stare, tap, tune in on, wiretap |
Antonyms: |
leave alone |
| Main Entry: | spying |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | watching |
Synonyms: |
bugging, observing, prying, surveillance, surveyance, voyeurism, wiretapping |
| Main Entry: | spying |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | surveillance |
Synonyms: |
espial, espionage, following, voyeurism, wiretapping |