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Stare vs Spy - What's the difference?

stare | spy | Related terms |

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)
  • 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 .
  • * John Mortimer (1656?-1736)
  • *:Take off all the staring straws and jags in the hive.
  • Troponyms
    * gaze, to stare intently or earnestly * ogle, to stare covetously or amorously
    Derived terms
    * stare someone in the face

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A persistent gaze.
  • the stares of astonished passers-by

    Etymology 2

    (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A starling.
  • (Webster 1913)

    Anagrams

    * ----

    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

    * ----