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Spying vs Prying - What's the difference?

spying | prying |

As verbs the difference between spying and prying

is that spying is present participle of lang=en while prying is present participle of lang=en.

As nouns the difference between spying and prying

is that spying is espionage while prying is the act of one who pries.

spying

English

Verb

(head)

    • Noun

  • espionage
  • * 1980 , Amélie Rorty, Explaining Emotions (page 472)
    • There are two ways in which the obsessive character of jealousy tends to exert itself: one is in the need to know, the endless tests and investigations and spyings that are so characteristic of jealousy.

    Anagrams

    *

    prying

    English

    Verb

    (head)

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of one who pries.
  • * 1992 , Judith Jarvis Thomson, The Realm of Rights (page 280)
    • That it is wrongful to do a thing in that it is grubby in the way in which pryings for the sake of prurient interest are grubby, does not by itself make doing the thing an infringement of a claim.