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Spied vs Detected - What's the difference?

spied | detected |

As verbs the difference between spied and detected

is that spied is (spy) while detected is (detect).

As an adjective detected is

referring to something that has been noticed.

spied

English

Verb

(head)
  • (spy)

    • Anagrams

    * *

    spy

    English

    Noun

    (spies)
  • A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)
    • , title= Travels and travails , passage=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.}}

    Derived terms

    * spy ring

    Verb

  • To act as a spy.
    • During the Cold War, Russia and America would each spy on each other for recon.
  • To spot; to catch sight of.
    • I think I can spy that hot guy coming over here.
  • * Jonathan Swift
    • One in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration.
  • * Latimer
    • Look about with your eyes; spy what things are to be reformed in the church of England.
  • To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
  • * Shakespeare
    • It is my nature's plague / To spy into abuses.
  • To explore; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.
  • * Bible, Numbers xxi. 32
    • Moses sent to spy Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof.

    Derived terms

    * spy on

    Related terms

    * spyglass * spyware

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    * ---- ==Norwegian Bokmål==

    Noun

  • barf (US), vomit, spew

    • Verb

  • to barf (US), throw up, vomit, spew (also figurative )

    • Synonyms

    * (l)

    References

    * ----

    detected

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Referring to something that has been noticed.
    • The detected submarine was tracked by sonar, it was easy once they knew where to look.

    Antonyms

    * undetected * non-detected

    Verb

    (head)
  • (detect)
    • We detected the submarine long before it observed us.