eavesdrop

English

WOTD – 14 August 2009

Etymology

From eaves +‎ drop; the "listening" sense derives from the notion of the listener standing in the area denoted by the physical sense.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈiːvzˌdɹɒp/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈivzˌdɹɑp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

eavesdrop (third-person singular simple present eavesdrops, present participle eavesdropping, simple past and past participle eavesdropped)

2. (transitive, intransitive) To hear (intentionally) a conversation one is not intended to hear; to listen in.

   I hope nobody was eavesdropping on our conversation last night, since it got so personal.

3. (zoology) To listen for another organism's calls, so as to exploit them.
   • 1993, David W. Nagorsen, Robert Mark Brigham, Royal British Columbia Museum, Bats of British Columbia, page 109:

     […] Eastern Red Bat will eavesdrop on the sonar calls of other red bats to locate potential insect prey.

   • 2014, Ken Yasukawa, Animal Behavior: How and Why Animals Do the Things They Do:

     Frog-biting midges also depend on eavesdropping for reproduction, and one would predict similarly strong selection to evolve auditory adaptations for hearing and localizing calls of their hosts.

Usage notes

To eavesdrop usually implies the listener is purposefully trying to hear the conversation of others. To overhear is more often accidental.

Hypernyms

• (hear conversation one is not intended to hear): overhear

Derived terms

• eavesdropper
• eavesread

Translations

to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear

• Armenian: ականջ դնել (hy) (akanǰ dnel), ականջ կախել (hy) (akanǰ kaxel), թաքուն լսել (tʻakʻun lsel)
• Bulgarian: подслу́швам (bg) impf (podslúšvam)
• Chichewa: -ba mawu
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 竊聽／窃听 (sit³ teng¹)

  Mandarin: 偷聽／偷听 (zh) (tōutīng), 竊聽／窃听 (zh) (qiètīng), 聽牆根ね／听墙根ね (zh) (tīng qiánggēn)

• Czech: odposlouchávat impf, odposlechnout pf
• Danish: smuglytte, aflytte, lytte
• Dutch: afluisteren (nl), luistervinken (nl)
• Esperanto: subaŭskulti
• Finnish: salakuunnella (fi)
• French: être aux écoutes, écouter secrètement, écouter discrètement
• German: belauschen (de), horchen (de), lauschen (de), abhören (de), zuhören (de)
• Greek: κρυφακούω (el) (kryfakoúo)
• Hebrew: לצותת
• Hindi: अनकना (hi) (anaknā)
• Hungarian: (intransitive) hallgatózik (hu), (transitive) kihallgat (hu), lehallgat (hu)
• Irish: cúléist
• Italian: origliare
• Japanese: 立たち聞ぎきする (たちぎきする, tachigiki suru)
• Khmer: លួចស្ដាប់ (luǝc sdap)
• Korean: 엿듣다 (yeotdeutda)
• Macedonian: прислушкува impf (prisluškuva), прислушува impf (prislušuva)
• Manx: cooyl-eaisht, eaisht gyn yss
• Maori: whakarongo kōrero
• Norwegian: overhøre, tjuvlytte, tyvlytte
• Persian: فالگوش ایستادن (fa) (fâlguš istâdan), شنود (fa) (šonud), استراق سمع کردن (esterâq-e sam' kardan)
• Polish: podsłuchiwać (pl) impf, podsłuchać (pl) pf
• Portuguese: ouvir/escutar escondido
• Romanian: trage cu urechea, asculta pe furiș
• Russian: подслу́шивать (ru) impf (podslúšivatʹ), подслу́шать (ru) pf (podslúšatʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: dèan farchluais
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: prisluškivati (sh) impf

• Slovak: načúvať, odpočúvať
• Spanish: escuchar disimuladamente, escuchar escondidamente, oír furtivamente, oír recatadamente, escuchar cautelosamente
• Swedish: tjuvlyssna (sv)
• Thai: ดักฟัง (dàk-fang)
• Turkish: kulak misafiri olmak (tr) (overhear), kulak kabartmak (tr) (idiomatic)
• Vietnamese: nghe lén (vi), nghe trộm (vi)

See also

• monitor
• surveil
• tap, wiretap

 

Noun

eavesdrop (countable and uncountable, plural eavesdrops)

1. The dripping of rain from the eaves of a house.
2. The space around a house on which such water drips.
3. (countable) A concealed aperture through which an occupant of a building can surreptitiously listen to people talking at an entrance to the building.
4. (countable) The act of intentionally hearing a conversation not intended to be heard.

   Were you having a little eavesdrop on us last night?

Synonyms

• eavesdrip

Translations

dripping of rain from the eaves of a house

• Bulgarian: капчук m (kapčuk)
• Italian: sgocciolatoio m, sgocciolio m

space around a house on which such water drips

• Finnish: räystäänalunen
• French: chéneau (fr) m
• Italian: sgocciolatoio m

concealed aperture through which an occupant can surreptitiously listen to people

• German: lauschen (de)

Anagrams

• eavedrops