Spy vs Listen - What's the difference?
spy | listen |
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= To act as a spy.
To spot; to catch sight of.
* Jonathan Swift
* Latimer
To search narrowly; to scrutinize.
* Shakespeare
To explore; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country.
* Bible, Numbers xxi. 32
barf (US), vomit, spew
to barf (US), throw up, vomit, spew (also figurative )
(lb) To pay attention to a sound or speech.
:
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers), title=(A Cuckoo in the Nest)
, chapter=1 (lb) To expect or wait for a sound, such as a signal.
:
*
*:It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street.. He halted opposite the Privy Gardens, and, with his face turned skywards, listened until the sound of the Tower guns smote again on the ear and dispelled his doubts.
*
*:He reined Wrangle to a walk, halted now and then to listen , and then proceeded cautiously with shifting and alert gaze.
(lb) To accept advice or obey instruction; to agree or assent.
:
*
*:Never listen when they tell you that Man and the animals have a common interest.
To hear (something or someone), to pay attention to.
*1485 , Sir (Thomas Malory), (w, Le Morte d'Arthur) , Book XX:
*:‘But, sir, lyars ye have lystened , and that hath caused grete debate betwyxte you and me.’
*1592 , (William Shakespeare), : v 3
*:Lady, vouchsafe to listen what I say.
As nouns the difference between spy and listen
is that spy is a person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage) while listen is .As a verb spy
is to act as a spy.spy
English
Noun
(spies)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 ringVerb
- During the Cold War, Russia and America would each spy on each other for recon.
- I think I can spy that hot guy coming over here.
- One in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration.
- Look about with your eyes; spy what things are to be reformed in the church of England.
- It is my nature's plague / To spy into abuses.
- Moses sent to spy Jaazer, and they took the villages thereof.
Derived terms
* spy onSee also
*Anagrams
* ---- ==Norwegian Bokmål==Noun
Verb
Synonyms
* (l)References
* ----listen
English
Verb
(en verb)citation, passage=He read the letter aloud. Sophia listened with the studied air of one for whom, even in these days, a title possessed some surreptitious allurement.}}