eavesdrop

English

WOTD – 14 August 2009

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

2. (transitive, intransitive) 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.

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.

Synonyms

• (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:

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

• Czech: odposlouchávat impf, odposlechnout pf
• Danish: smuglytte, aflytte, lytte
• Dutch: afluisteren (nl), luistervinken (nl)
• Finnish: salakuunnella
• French: être aux écoutes, écouter secrètement, écouter discrètement
• German: belauschen (de), horchen (de), lauschen (de), abhören (de), zuhören (de)
• Hebrew: לצותת
• Hindi: अनकना (hi) (anaknā)
• Hungarian: hallgatózik (hu), kihallgat (hu)
• Irish: cúléist
• Italian: origliare
• Japanese: 立ち聞きする (たちぎきする, tachigiki suru)
• Khmer: លួចស្ដាប់ (luǝc sdap)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Korean: 엿듣다 (yeotdeutda)
• Macedonian: прислушкува impf (prisluškuva), прислушува impf (prislušuva)
• Manx: cooyl-eaisht, eaisht gyn yss
• Maori: whakarongo kōrero
• Norwegian: overhøre
• 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
• Swedish: tjuvlyssna (sv)
• Thai: ดักฟัง (dàk-fang)
• Turkish: kulak misafiri olmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: nghe lén (vi), nghe trộm (vi)

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 m (kapčuk)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: sgocciolatoio m, sgocciolio m

space around a house on which such water drips

• Finnish: räystäänalunen
• French: chéneau (fr) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: sgocciolatoio m

concealed aperture through which an occupant can surreptitiously listen to people

• German: lauschen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• eavedrops