spying
n. uncountablen. the act of secretly collecting information about a person, company, or country. You usually do this for a government or a business competitor.
n. the practice of obtaining secret information about another party without their permission. Often involves the use of covert agents or electronic surveillance to gain a strategic or political advantage.
He was arrested for spying on the government.
The company was accused of industrial spying after a former employee leaked their secret designs to a rival.
While traditional spying once relied heavily on human intelligence and physical infiltration, modern espionage is increasingly dominated by sophisticated cyber operations and satellite surveillance.
From spy + -ing.
Inherited from Middle English spyinge, spiyng, spyeng, equivalent to spy + -ing.
He was caught for a spying.He was caught for spying.When referring to the activity in general, the word is uncountable and does not take an indefinite article.