eavesdrop

WOTD – 14 August 2009    

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈiːvzˌdɹɒp/, X-SAMPA: /"i:vz%drQp/
• (US) IPA: /ˈivzˌdɹɑp/, X-SAMPA: /"ivz%drAp/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Etymology

eaves +‎ drop, i.e. listening at the eaves of a building.

Verb

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

1. To hear 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.

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

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

Derived terms

• eavesdropper

Translations

to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear

• Armenian: ականջ դնել (hy) (akanǰ dnel), ականջ կախել (hy) (akanǰ kaxel), թաքուն լսել (hy) (t’ak’un lsel)
• Bulgarian: подслушвам (bg) (podslušvam)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: odposlouchávat
• Danish: smuglytte (da), aflytte (da), lytte (da)
• Dutch: afluisteren (nl)
• Finnish: kuunnella salaa, salakuunnella
• French: être aux écoutes
• German: belauschen, horchen, lauschen, abhören, zuhören (de)
• Hebrew: לצותת
• Hungarian: hallgatózik (hu), kihallgat (hu)
• Irish: cúléist (ga)
• Italian: origliare (it)

• Japanese: 盗聴する (ja) (とうちょうする, tōchō suru)
• Khmer: លួចស្ដាប់ (km) (luǝc sdap)
• Macedonian: прислушкува (mk) (prislúškuva), прислушува (mk) (prislúšuva)
• Manx: cooyl-eaisht (gv), eaisht gyn yss (gv)
• Norwegian: overhøre (no)
• Persian: فالگوش ایستادن (fa) (fâlguš istâdan), شنود (fa) (šonud), استراق سمع کردن (fa) (esterâq-e-sam' kardan)
• Polish: podsłuchać (pl), podsłuchiwać (pl), przypadkowo usłyszeć (pl)
• Portuguese: interceptar (pt), grampear (pt)
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: подслушивать (ru) (podslúšivat') impf., подслушать (ru) (podslúšat') pf.
• Scottish Gaelic: dèan farchluais (gd)
• Serbo-Croatian: prisluškivati (sh)
• Swedish: tjuvlyssna (sv)
• Turkish: kulak misafiri olmak (tr)

Noun

eavesdrop (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. A concealed aperture through which an occupant of a building can surreptitiously listen to people talking at an entrance to the building
4. The act of intentionally hearing a conversation not intended to be heard

Synonyms

• eavesdrip

Translations

dripping of rain from the eaves of a house

• Bulgarian: капчук (bg) (kapčuk) m

• Italian: sgocciolatoio (it) m

space around a house on which such water drips

• Finnish: räystäänalunen (fi)
• French: chéneau (fr) m

• Italian: sgocciolatoio (it) m

concealed aperture through which an occupant can surreptitiously listen to people