Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1300-1400
Language: Old French
Origin: espier; SPY2

espy

 verb
     
es‧py past tense and past participle espied, present participle espying, third person singular espies [transitive]
literary to suddenly see someone or something [= spy]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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