eavesdrop
pronunciation
How to pronounce eavesdrop in British English:
UK [ˈi:vzdrɒp]
How to pronounce eavesdrop in American English:
US [ˈivzdrɑp]
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- Verb:
- listen without the speaker's knowledge
Word Origin
- eavesdrop (v.)
- "lurk near a place to hear what is said inside," c. 1600, probably a back-formation from eavesdropper. The original notion is listening from under the eaves of a house. Related: Eavesdropping.
Example
- 1. An american-supported project to eavesdrop on suspected drug traffickers has been beset with technical problems .
- 2. Gradually , companies are realising that the opportunity to eavesdrop on those conversations and engage more deeply with customers is priceless .
- 3. Westerners fret that the networks the firm is building are used by chinese spooks to eavesdrop during peacetime and could be shut down suddenly during wartime .
- 4. It was deployed at least five years ago and can eavesdrop on conversations on the computers it infects and steal data .
- 5. Mr bush argues that the intelligence services should be allowed to eavesdrop on people in america suspected of terrorist links when they call their contacts abroad , without having to waste time obtaining a warrant .