How do you use the word "spy" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "spy": You aren't a spy, are you? White was denounced to the police as a spy.

Spy Meaning

/spaɪ/

Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounA person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).

nounA defensive player assigned to cover an offensive backfield player man-to-man when they are expected to engage in a running play, but the offensive player does not run with the ball immediately.

Sentence Examples

You aren't a spy, are you?

White was denounced to the police as a spy.

He was denounced as a foreign spy.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

spot sight stag

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The government official was actually a ____ who stole secret documents.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The secret agent worked as a ____ deep undercover to gather information about the enemy's plans.

Word Origin & History

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”). The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show. Distant cognate vie PIE with Latin speculātor, Ancient Greek κατάσκοπος (katáskopos). Compare typologically Russian согляда́тай (sogljadátaj) (akin to гляде́ть (gljadétʹ)).

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"The dead leap at the throat, destroy The meaning of the day; dark forms Have scaled your walls, and spies betray Old secrets to amorphous swarms." — 1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →OCLC; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, London: Faber and Faber […], 1968, →OCLC, page 4:

"Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee." — 2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

"VVherefore lift up your heads, brethren, and look about vvith your eyes, ſpy vvhat things are to be reformed in the Church of England." — 1536 June 15 (Gregorian calendar), Hugh Latimer, “Sermon II. Master Latimer’s Discourse on the Same Day in the Afternoon [Preached to the Convocation of the Clergy, before the Parliament Began, the Sixth Day of June, the Twenty Eighth Year of the Reign of the Late King Henry VIII].”, in The Sermons of the Right Reverend Father in God, Master Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester. […], volume I, London: […] J. Scott, […], published 1758, →OCLC, page 32:

"One in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration." — 1720, Jonathan Swift, A Letter to a Young Clergyman:

"Child, I see thee! Child, I spy thee!" — 1818, John Keats, A Prophecy:

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