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Synonyms

espionage

American  
[es-pee-uh-nahzh, -nij, es-pee-uh-nahzh] / ˈɛs pi əˌnɑʒ, -nɪdʒ, ˌɛs pi əˈnɑʒ /

noun

  1. the act or practice of spying.

  2. the use of spies by a government to discover the military and political secrets of other nations.

  3. the use of spies by a corporation or the like to acquire the plans, technical knowledge, etc., of a competitor.

    industrial espionage.
espionage British  
/ ˌɛspɪəˈnɑːʒ, ˈɛspɪəˌnɑːʒ, ˈɛspɪənɪdʒ /

noun

  1. the systematic use of spies to obtain secret information, esp by governments to discover military or political secrets

  2. the act or practice of spying

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nonespionage noun

Etymology

Origin of espionage

First recorded in 1785–95; from French espionnage, Middle French espionage, from espionn(er) “to spy” (derivative of espion “a spy,” from Italian spione, from Germanic ) + -age -age; espy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.