Stare vs Spy - What's the difference?
stare | spy | Related terms |
To look fixedly (at something).
{{quote-Fanny Hill, part=2
, Her sturdy stallion had now unbutton'd, and produced naked, stiff, and erect, that wonderful machine, which I had never seen before, and which, for the interest my own seat of pleasure began to take furiously in it, I star'd at with all the eyes I had}}
*
*:A great bargain also had been the excellent Axminster carpet which covered the floor; as, again, the arm-chair in which Bunting now sat forward, staring into the dull, small fire. In fact, that arm-chair had been an extravagance of Mrs. Bunting. She had wanted her husband to be comfortable after the day's work was done, and she had paid thirty-seven shillings for the chair.
To be very conspicuous on account of size, prominence, colour, or brilliancy.
:staring windows or colours
(obsolete) To stand out; to project; to bristle.
*(William Shakespeare) (c.1564–1616)
*:Makest my blood cold, and my hair to stare .
*
*:Take off all the staring straws and jags in the hive.
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 )
Stare is a related term of spy.
As nouns the difference between stare and spy
is that stare is : starlings while 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).As a verb spy is
to act as a spy.stare
English
(wikipedia stare)Etymology 1
From (etyl) . More at (l).Verb
(star)John Mortimer(1656?-1736)
Troponyms
* gaze, to stare intently or earnestly * ogle, to stare covetously or amorouslyDerived terms
* stare someone in the faceEtymology 2
(etyl)Anagrams
* ----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.