spying

• IPA^(key): /ˈspaɪ.ɪŋ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪɪŋ

From spy + -ing.

spying

1. present participle and gerund of spy

Inherited from Middle English spyinge, spiyng, spyeng, equivalent to spy +‎ -ing.

spying (countable and uncountable, plural spyings)

1. espionage; the act of secretly gathering information
   • 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.

• pigsny