Adjacent Words

eavesdrop definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: listen without the speaker's knowledge; "the jealous man was eavesdropping on his wife's conversations" [syn: listen in, eavesdrop]

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb Etymology: probably back-formation from eavesdropper, literally, one standing under the drip from the eaves Date: 1606 to listen secretly to what is said in private • eavesdropper noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v.intr. (-dropped, -dropping) listen secretly to a private conversation. Derivatives: eavesdropper n. Etymology: eavesdropper orig. 'one who listens under walls' prob. f. ON upsardropi (cf. OE yfæsdrypæ): eavesdrop by back-form.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Eavesdrop Eaves"drop`, n. The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Eavesdrop Eaves"drop`, v. i. [Eaves + drop.] To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private. To eavesdrop in disguises. --Milton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(eavesdrops, eavesdropping, eavesdropped) If you eavesdrop on someone, you listen secretly to what they are saying. The government illegally eavesdropped on his telephone conversations... The housemaid eavesdropped from behind the kitchen door. = listen in VERB: V on n, V • eavesdropping ...foreign electronic eavesdropping on army communications. • eavesdropper (eavesdroppers) Modern technology enables eavesdroppers to pick up conversations through windows or walls. N-COUNT

Moby Thesaurus

attend, attend to, auscultate, be all ears, bend an ear, bug, cock the ears, examine by ear, give attention, give audience to, give ear, hark, hear, hear out, hearken, heed, intercept, lend an ear, listen, listen at, listen in, listen to, overhear, pry, sit in on, snoop, spy, tap, wiretap