How to Use spy on in a Sentence

spy on

phrasal verb
Definition of spy onnext
  • Your mom added her a few years ago, most likely to spy on your life.
    — Anne Lagamayo, Longreads, 11 May 2023
  • Translation – you can be spied on and not even know it.
    — Kurt Knutsson, Fox News, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Add insects to the quickly growing list of things DAS can spy on.
    — Matt Simon, WIRED, 30 Nov. 2023
  • This new report may back up Trump's claim his 2016 campaign was spied on.
    — Fox News, 16 Feb. 2024
  • The hoax appears to play off of fears of software used to spy on victims’ phones, known as spyware.
    — Ben Goggin, NBC News, 9 Oct. 2023
  • But, on the other hand, it’s not set up not to spy on presidents, either.
    — Jesse Gilbert, Rolling Stone, 27 Nov. 2023
  • One person can produce many drones that can be used to drop bombs or spy on the enemy.
    — Dominique Soguel, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Dec. 2023
  • The feds are spying on him and white supremacists are lurking in the shadows.
    — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2023
  • The music video, on the other hand, was less subtle: In it, Timberlake thrashes the home of a Spears lookalike and spies on her in the shower.
    — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2023
  • The Gulf state alleged the men were spying on its submarine program for Israel, one of the people said.
    — Rajesh Roy, WSJ, 27 Oct. 2023
  • The man is suspected of spying on women at a home on Dorothy Drive in late December.
    — City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Feb. 2024
  • As an adult, Beth Raymer came into possession of recordings from phone taps that her father once used to spy on his wife.
    — Longreads, 20 Sep. 2024
  • The big question is who bought access to NSO Group’s surveillance programs to spy on her device.
    — Michael Kan, PCMAG, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The man accused of spying on the anonymous plaintiff is facing trial in West Virginia.
    — Thomas Brewster, Forbes, 13 Feb. 2024
  • Around that time, Andrew sent emails to his mother and sister that described neighbors spying on him.
    — Kathleen McGrory, ProPublica, 6 Jan. 2024
  • Think of them like little spies on your finger, constantly keeping tabs on what's going on in your body.
    — Talene Appleton, Men's Health, 10 June 2023
  • Some families may not like the premise that the elf is spying on their kids and reporting their behavior to Santa.
    — Apryl Duncan, Parents, 29 July 2024
  • The dramatic and comedic trilogy that featured dapper spies on hot-pursuits around the world?
    — Isiah Magsino, Town & Country, 6 May 2023
  • One of the best ways to protect yourself from being spied on is to have antivirus protection installed on all your devices.
    — Kurt Knutsson, Fox News, 30 Sep. 2023
  • The technology is similar to that used in Dash carts, which Amazon has insisted in the past is not used to spy on shoppers.
    — Francisco Velasquez, Quartz, 3 Sep. 2024
  • After all, the Japanese, like other allies, knew that the United States spies on partners.
    — Ellen Nakashima, Washington Post, 7 Aug. 2023
  • Chaum asked: How can a bank or a network service provider provide a service to its users without spying on them while doing so?
    — Barath Raghavan, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Nov. 2023
  • However, in August 2022, malicious code was included in the app to enable it to spy on users.
    — Leada Gore | [email protected], al, 26 Jan. 2023
  • Canceling their flights, using drones to spy on their plays and even traveling through time are some of the eccentric ideas proposed.
    — Victoria Hernandez, USA TODAY, 23 July 2023
  • TikTok has long denied it could be used by the Chinese government to spy on Americans.
    — Caitlin Yilek, CBS News, 13 Mar. 2024
  • The site also says police distributed an update to hackers who used the Redline and Meta malware designed to spy on them.
    — Michael Kan, PCMAG, 28 Oct. 2024
  • And who would have been spying on our heroes all this time, leaving them threatening notes to stop the podcast, placing hidden cameras in their flats?
    — Erik Kain, Forbes, 15 Oct. 2024
  • Azerbaijan has also reportedly allowed the Israeli spy agency Mossad to use it as a hub to spy on Iran.
    — Max Saltman, CNN, 4 Oct. 2023
  • Editor’s picks Near isn’t set up to spy on U.S. presidents, current or former.
    — Jesse Gilbert, Rolling Stone, 27 Nov. 2023
  • Zoom could spy on calls of other companies or harvest and sell user data to data brokers.
    — Barath Raghavan, IEEE Spectrum, 5 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spy on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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