snoop
v.v. to look around a place or through someone's things in a secret way. You usually do this to find out information that is not your business.
v. to investigate or peer into matters that are not one's concern, typically in a furtive or secretive manner. Often carries a negative connotation of invading privacy.
I caught him trying to snoop through my desk drawers.
She decided to snoop around the office after everyone had left to see if she could find the secret files.
While some view the new security software as a necessary precaution, others argue it allows the administration to snoop on private employee communications without just cause.
From Dutch snoepen (“to pry, eat in secret, sneak”). Related to Dutch and Low German snappen (“to bite, seize”), Dutch snavel (“beak, bill, pecker, neb”), German Schnabel (“beak, bill, mouth”). More at snap.
Intransitive when used with 'around' or 'on'; transitive when describing the act of investigating a specific place.
He was snooping my emails.He was snooping through my emails.When referring to looking through a collection of items, the verb usually requires the preposition 'through' or 'around'.