wiretap

Definition

n. a hidden device used to listen to or record someone's private phone calls. Police or government agents often use this to gather evidence during an investigation.

n. a concealed electronic device or connection used for the monitoring and recording of telephone or telegraph communications. Often authorised by a warrant in legal contexts to gather intelligence or evidence.

simple

“The police placed a wiretap on the suspect's phone.”

contextual

“Evidence from the wiretap revealed that the group was planning a major heist for the following weekend.”

complex

“Legal scholars debated whether the evidence obtained via the unauthorised wiretap should be admissible in court, given the potential violation of constitutional privacy rights.”

Common phrases and expressions where native English speakers use the word “wiretap” in context.

Verb

01. authorize wiretap

“A federal judge must authorize a wiretap in cases of national security.”

verb + noun

02. discover wiretap

“The gang leader was furious to discover a wiretap hidden in his phone line.”

verb + noun

03. install wiretap

“Police had to obtain a warrant before they could install a wiretap.”

verb + noun

04. monitor wiretap

“Agents spent weeks monitoring the wiretap for any mention of the drug shipment.”

verb + noun

Adjective

05. illegal wiretap

“The defense argued that the evidence was obtained through an illegal wiretap.”

adj + noun

06. secret wiretap

“The investigation relied on a secret wiretap placed in the suspect's office.”

adj + noun

07. unauthorized wiretap

“The agency was criticized for conducting an unauthorized wiretap on the journalist.”

adj + noun

Noun

08. evidence from wiretap

“The prosecution's case rests almost entirely on evidence from the wiretap.”

noun + prep + noun

09. transcript of wiretap

“The jury was provided with a full transcript of the wiretap recordings.”

noun + prep + noun

10. information gathered via wiretap

“Information gathered via wiretap led to the arrest of several high-ranking officials.”

11. obtain a warrant for wiretap

“Investigators struggled to obtain a warrant for a wiretap due to lack of evidence.”

12. place a wiretap on

“The FBI decided to place a wiretap on the suspect's private residence.”

Often used with the verbs 'place', 'install', or 'authorise'.

“The FBI and the Justice Department's National Security Division "confirm that they have no records related to wiretaps as described" by tweets from Trump posted on March 4, the department said in a court filing in Washington.”

Reuters 2 Sept 2017

“During the proceedings in Manhattan federal court, Rajaratnam's attorney, John Dowd, submitted evidence indicating that an FBI agent neglected to inform a judge about extensive previous investigations into his client conducted by securities regulators and the FBI when seeking wiretap authorization in March 2008.”

Reuters 4 Oct 2010

“This case marks the first time that evidence derived from court-sanctioned wiretaps has been utilized in a Wall Street insider trading prosecution.”

Reuters 21 Oct 2009

“The FBI has quietly built a sophisticated, point-and-click surveillance system that performs instant wiretaps on almost any communications device, according to nearly a thousand pages of restricted documents newly released under the Freedom of Information Act.”

WIRED 29 Aug 2007

A 19th-century back-formation from the earlier noun wiretapper, or perhaps a compound of wire and tap. The term describes the interception of signals, entering the lexicon as telegraphy and telephony rendered private correspondence a matter of physical connection.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

tap Bug

NOUN

wiretap(C1)

ADJECTIVE

ADVERB