as in to notice
to make note of (something) through the use of one's eyes
out of the corner of my eye I espied the squirrel making another raid on the bird feeder
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of espy
The film’s comedy is built from a series of infinitesimal touches and chance intrusions, as when Édouard, espying Charles in the street, leaps from his seat at a sidewalk café and jostles a waiter bearing drinks.
—
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
9 July 2024
Imprisoned by the Duke of Athens, the cousins espy the beautiful Emilia from their cell—and each man falls immediately in love.
—
Andrea Mays,
Smithsonian Magazine,
14 May 2024
If a basket-hanger was espied by the recipient, the recipient would give chase and try to steal a kiss from the basket-hanger.
—
Southern Living Editors,
Southern Living,
30 Jan. 2024
Images taken from different realities, different spaces, times, places that have been sort of cut out and pasted together to create a new scene that depicts something that no human eye would ever have espied.
—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
13 Mar. 2023
Resentful 1970s émigrés were prodding the West to espy its true enemy not in communism, but in an irredeemable Russia.
—
Ignat Solzhenitsyn,
WSJ,
23 Oct. 2020
The cub tried to sneak up on him, but was quickly espied by the older lion.
—
Kelli Bender,
PEOPLE.com,
20 June 2019
For instance, visitors can scan through an electronic infographic for terrariums filled with camouflaging Gulf Coast toads, then head outside onto more than 2 miles of dirt and boardwalk trails to espy the bayou's flora and fauna.
—
Beau Evans,
NOLA.com,
6 Oct. 2017
Richard Brody,
The New Yorker,
9 July 2024
Imprisoned by the Duke of Athens, the cousins espy the beautiful Emilia from their cell—and each man falls immediately in love.
—
Andrea Mays,
Smithsonian Magazine,
14 May 2024
If a basket-hanger was espied by the recipient, the recipient would give chase and try to steal a kiss from the basket-hanger.
—
Southern Living Editors,
Southern Living,
30 Jan. 2024
Images taken from different realities, different spaces, times, places that have been sort of cut out and pasted together to create a new scene that depicts something that no human eye would ever have espied.
—
Philip Martin,
Arkansas Online,
13 Mar. 2023
Resentful 1970s émigrés were prodding the West to espy its true enemy not in communism, but in an irredeemable Russia.
—
Ignat Solzhenitsyn,
WSJ,
23 Oct. 2020
The cub tried to sneak up on him, but was quickly espied by the older lion.
—
Kelli Bender,
PEOPLE.com,
20 June 2019
For instance, visitors can scan through an electronic infographic for terrariums filled with camouflaging Gulf Coast toads, then head outside onto more than 2 miles of dirt and boardwalk trails to espy the bayou's flora and fauna.
—
Beau Evans,
NOLA.com,
6 Oct. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for espy
Verb
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Court documents say witnesses noticed Lopez acting strangely before the attack.
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Soon though, Shawna noticed some of Zaayer's strange behaviors — including scolding her grandson, getting upset over cleaning habits and allegedly showing them racist videos.
Verb
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As adult influencers dominate online fashion culture, and tweens and teens see the same content as adults, there are fewer spaces for young people to develop styles of their own.
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Messi was trying to get a ball away from an Algerian player when he was seen digging his cleat into the back of the player’s calf.
Verb
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They had been spotted in nearby trees but didn’t immediately return to the nest.
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Rodríguez Castro made at least 23 private trips aboard a private jet to Panama between 2024 and late 2025, where he was spotted luxury-shopping.
Verb
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However, the finale shows Oreana eyeing the positive results of a pregnancy test before asking Carter to run away together and start over.
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The Swift operations team at Penn State University’s Eberly College of Science has reduced power usage and steered the observatory to eye the cosmos from a more streamlined position.
Cite this Entry
“Espy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/espy. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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