Also 4–7 spie, spye. [ad. OF. espie (= Sp. and Pg. espia, It. spia) ESPY sb.; hence also MDu. spie. In sense 4 partly f. SPY v.]
1. One who spies upon or watches a person or persons secretly; a secret agent whose business it is to keep a person, place, etc., under close observation; esp. one employed by a government in order to obtain information relating to the military or naval affairs of other countries, or to collect intelligence of any kind.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 2169. It semet wel ðat ȝe spies ben, And in-to ðis lond cumen to sen, And … for to spien ur lord ðe king. Ibid., 2174. Spies were we neuer non.
c. 1380. Wyclif, Wks. (1880), 272. God haþ ȝouen a prest to be a spie to aspie þe sotil disceitis of þe fend & warne þe peple of hem.
c. 1384. Chaucer, H. Fame, II. 196. Though that Fame had al the pies In al a Realme, and al the spies.
c. 1400. Maundev. (1839), xi. 131. Whan the Spyes seen ony Cristene men comen upon hem, thei rennen to the Townes.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 469/1. Spy, or watare…, explorator.
1508. Dunbar, Tua Mariit Wemen, 161. To speik, quoth scho, I sall nought spar; ther is no spy neir.
1592. Shaks., Ven. & Ad., 655. This sour informer, this hate-breeding spy.
1617. Moryson, Itin., III. 13. Theeves have their spies commonly in all Innes, to inquire after the condition of passengers.
1667. Milton, P. L., II. 970. I come no Spie With purpose to explore or to disturb The secrets of your Realm.
1706–7. Farquhar, Beaux’ Strat., III. i. Why some think he’s a Spy, some guess he’s a Mountebank.
1797. Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, xiii. They are certainly spies from the Monastery.
1855. Prescott, Philip II., II. iii. I. 172. His spies were everywhere, mingling with the suspected and insinuating themselves into their confidence.
1882. J. H. Blunt. Ref. Ch. Eng., II. 122. John Hooper … and … William Latimer … informed against him to the Privy Council, having no doubt been sent as official spies.
transf. and fig. 1590. Spenser, F. Q., I. ii. 17. Each others equall puissaunce enuies, And through their iron sides with cruell spies Does seeke to perce. Ibid., III. i. 36. And whilest he bath’d, with her two crafty spyes, She secretly would search each daintie lim.
1654. R. Whitlock, Ζωοτομια, 560. Testimonies of dying Saints:… we may call them Intelligence from the Spies of Eternity, seeing … the Grapes of that Canaan.
1663. Patrick, Parab. Pilgr., xxi. If there be any thing of greater force than other to bring you acquainted with the joy and peace of Jerusalem,… this must be that happy Spy.
b. Const. on, upon (rarely of). Also transf.
1375. Barbour, Bruce, VII. 386. He to Carleill than vald ga, And a quhill thar-in soiorn ma, And haf his spyis on the kyng.
1623. Wotton, in Pearsall Smith, Life & Lett. (1907), II. 237. I conceive it a duty to tell your Lordship first how we stand here at this date. For ambassadors (in our old Kentish language) are but spies of the time.
1680. N. Tate, Loyal General, Addr. E. Tayler A v. He was a most diligent Spie upon Nature.
1725. De Foe, Voy. round World (1840), 35. They had presently three Dutchmen, set by the Dutch captain, unperceived by them, to be spies upon them, and to mark exactly what they did.
1797. Mrs. Radcliffe, Italian, ii. He suspected that this man was at once the spy of his steps and the defamer of his love.
1833. Ht. Martineau, Loom & Lugger, I. iii. 38. But these men are spies only upon those who break the laws.
1849. Macaulay, Hist. Eng., v. I. 533. There is strong reason to believe that he provided for his own safety by pretending at Whitehall to be a spy on the Whigs.
c. As the title of various periodicals, etc.
1644. The Spie, communicating Intelligence from Oxford.
1706. E. Ward, The London Spy.
1712. Swift, Let. Eng. Tongue, Wks. 1751, II. I. 189. Those monstrous productions, which under the name of trips, spies, amusements, and other conceited appellations, have over-run us for some years past.
1739. The Universal Spy, or London Weekly Magazine.
1810–1. [Hogg], The Spy. A periodical paper of literary amusement and instruction.
1854. Poultry Chron., II. 174. The ‘Worcester Spy’ says that the corn crop in Central Massachusetts, will be nearly or quite an average one.
† d. Black spy, the Devil.
a. 1700. in B. E., Dict. Cant. Crew.
2. Mil. A person employed in time of war to obtain secret information regarding the enemy; in early use esp. one venturing in disguise into the enemy’s camp or territory.
13[?]. K. Alis., 3530 (Linc.). Þe spies on boþe sydes goþ, An telliþ tales for soþ, Of Alisaundre, and eke Darie.
1338. R. Brunne, Chron. (1810), 241. Had þei had a spie among þe Walssh oste,… Þei had bien men lyuand, þat þer to dede went.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xl. (Ninian), 905. Þe Inglis … vend þar spy betraisit had þame to þe knycht.
c. 1420. Lydg., Assembly of Gods, 1022. Er he came at the felde he sent yet pryuyly Sensualyte before, in maner of a spy.
c. 1450. Merlin, xviii. 290. On the morowe erly Gawein sente a spie for to se what the saisnes diden.
1533. Tindale, Lord’s Supper, Wks. (1573), 472/1. As if a souldier of our aduersaries part shoulde come in among vs with our Lordes badge,… we would … take him for a spye.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Hen. VIII., 25 b. At a certayn foord shewed to them by a spy which serued ye yoman of ye tentes of vitailes.
1665. Manley, Grotius’ Low-C. Wars, 267. Then they considered their danger, especially upon the Return of some that had been sent as Spies.
1699. Temple, Hist. Eng., 113. Upon approach of his Enemies he sent Spies into the Norman Camp, who were taken.
1777. in Sparks, Corr. Amer. Rev. (1883), I. 428. My scouts and spies inform me, that the enemy’s head-quarters and main body are at Saratoga.
1846. Wright, Ess. Mid. Ages, II. xiii. 87. In the early romances, no disguise is so frequently used by a spy as that of a minstrel.
1899. The Hague Conference, Art. 29, An individual can only be considered a spy if, acting clandestinely, or on false pretences, he obtains or seeks to obtain information in the zone of operations of a belligerent, with the intention of communicating it to the hostile party.
† 3. An ambush, ambuscade, snare. Obs. rare. Cf. ESPY sb. 1 b.
c. 1380. Antecrist, in Todd, Three Treat. Wyclif (1851), 116. He sitteþ in spies wiþ riche men þat he slee an innocent man in privee.
1382. Wyclif, 1 Kings xvi. 20. The remnaunt … of the wordis of Zamry, and of the spies [1388 tresouns] of him, and of the tyraundise.
4. The action of spying; secret observation or watching; an instance or occasion of this. Chiefly in phrases.
a. 1450. Knt. de la Tour (1868), 7. Hit happed that the lorde made spie how the gentill-woman was gone to hide her.
1605. Shaks., Macb., III. i. 130. I will aduise you where to plant your selues, Acquaint you with the perfect Spy o’ th’ time, The moment on ’t.
1751. Female Foundling, I. 143. This young Baggage was on the Spy, and cannot hold her Tongue when she has done.
1857. A. Mayhew, Paved with Gold, II. viii. But he’s always at the window looking over your way, and if you keep a spy on her, there’ll be some fun.
5. attrib. and Comb., as spy-hunting, -knave, -like adj., -mania, -system, -work, etc.; † spy-boat, a vessel used for purposes of observation; spy-money, payment for the services of a spy; spy-ship, = spy-boat; Spy Wednesday, in Irish use, the Wednesday before Easter (in allusion, it is said, to Judas).
1637. Heywood, Royall Ship, 10. A kind of *Spie-boates which waited upon a fleete at sea.
1693. Luttrell, Brief Rel. (1857), III. 52. The German spy boat came upon the coast of France with a fleet of 16 French merchant men.
1704. Lond. Gaz., No. 4019/2. Her Majesty’s Spy Boat the Chatham Prize.
1871. N. Sheppard, Shut up in Paris, 58. Crowd dissolves to wreak its wrath in *spy-hunting.
1622. Fletcher, Beggar’s Bush, III. iii. You are sent here, Sirra, To discover certain Gentlemen, a *spy-knave.
1599. B. Jonson, Cynthia’s Rev., Prologue. *Spie-like suggestions, privie whisperings, And thousand such promooting sleights as these.
1668. Extr. State Papers rel. Friends, Ser. III. (1912), 276. He may be imployed about busines from Holland, and soe spy like carry intelligence there.
1894. Daily News, 21 Nov., 5/4. The recrudescence of the *spy-mania in France.
1713. Addison, Guardian, No. 97, ¶ 4. *Spy-money to John Trott her footman, and Mrs. Sarah Wheedle, her companion.
1858. trans. Life of Xavier, 188. The *spy-ships which he had sent … to ascertain the fate of the contest between the Acheens and Portuguese.
1880. McCarthy, Own Times, liii. IV. 137. The *spy system was soon flourishing in full force.
1842. Lover, Handy Andy, xxiii. She spakes like a French spy;… and she was missin’, I remember, all last *Spy-Wednesday.
1804. J. Larwood, No Gun Boats, 23. Her Emissaries are at the secret *spywork of observation and information.
1818. Cobbett, Pol. Reg., XXXIII. 50. It appears … that the Duke of Montrose … highly approved of his spy-work.
