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Spy vs Terrorist - What's the difference?

spy | terrorist |

As nouns the difference between spy and terrorist

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 terrorist is terrorist.

As a verb spy

is to act as a spy.

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

    See also

    *

    Anagrams

    * ---- ==Norwegian Bokmål==

    Noun

  • barf (US), vomit, spew
  • Verb

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

    * (l)

    References

    * ----

    terrorist

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A person, group, or organization that uses violent action, or the threat of violent action, to further political goals.
  • An agent or partisan of the revolutionary tribunal during the in France.
  • Hyponyms

    * lone wolfer

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Of or relating to terrorism.
  • Usage notes

    The use of the label "terrorist" is often controversial or subjective, since one person's terrorist may be another's "freedom fighter", and vice versa depending on somebody's personal ideology of beliefs. A cynical definition may be that a terrorist is someone who murders or terrorizes more of those for whom the terrorist is fighting, than his supposed enemies.

    Noun

    (nb-noun-m1)
  • (person who uses terror as a weapon in a political struggle)