Spy vs Scout - What's the difference?
spy | scout |
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 )
A person sent out to gain and bring in tidings; especially, one employed in war to gain information about the enemy and ground.
An act of scouting or reconnoitering.
* Cowper
A member of any number of youth organizations belonging to the international movement, such as the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of the United States.
A person who assesses and/or recruits others; especially, one who identifies promising talent on behalf of a sports team.
(British) A college student's or undergraduate's servant; -- so called in Oxford, England; at Cambridge called a gyp; and at Dublin, a skip.
(British, cricket) A fielder in a game for practice.
A fighter aircraft.
(intransitive) To explore a wide terrain, as on a search; to reconnoiter.
To observe, watch, or look for, as a scout; to follow for the purpose of observation, as a scout.
* Beaumont and Fletcher
To reject with contempt.
* 1610 , , act 3 scene 2
* Charles Dickens, David Copperfield
To scoff.
* 1851 , (Herman Melville), , ch. 45
(dated) A swift sailing boat.
* Samuel Pepys
In intransitive terms the difference between spy and scout
is that spy is to search narrowly; to scrutinize while scout is to scoff.In transitive terms the difference between spy and scout
is that spy is to explore; to view; inspect and examine secretly, as a country while scout is to reject with contempt.As a proper noun Scout is
A nickname, used for both genders.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
* ----scout
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl), from (etyl) .Noun
(en noun)- while the rat is on the scout
Verb
- Take more men, and scout him round.
Derived terms
* scout about * scout around * scout out * scout round * scout upEtymology 2
Of Scandinavian origin: compare Old Norse sk?ti, sk?ta = "taunt"; thus may be related to "shout".Verb
(en verb)- to scout an idea or an apology
- Flout 'em and scout' 'em; and ' scout 'em and flout 'em: / Thought is free.
- I don't think I had any definite idea where Dora came from, or in what degree she was related to a higher order of beings; but I am quite sure I should have scouted the notion of her being simply human, like any other young lady, with indignation and contempt.
- So ignorant are most landsmen of some of the plainest and most palpable wonders of the world, that without some hints touching the plain facts, historical and otherwise, of the fishery, they might scout at Moby Dick as a monstrous fable, or still worse and more detestable, a hideous and intolerable allegory.
Etymology 3
Icelandic skta? a small craft or cutter.Noun
(en noun)- So we took a scout , very much pleased with the manner and conversation of the passengers.