Meanings
verbeavesdrop (third-person singular simple present eavesdrops, present participle eavesdropping, simple past and past participle eavesdropped)
present singular third person eavesdrops · participle present eavesdropping · participle past eavesdropped · past eavesdropped
- ambitransitiveTo 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.
1 more example
You shouldn't eavesdrop, David. I told you: You'll only hear things you'll wish you hadn't.
1999 February 3, Anthony Horowitz et al., “Strangler's Wood”, in Midsomer Murders - biologyTo listen for another organism's calls, so as to exploit them.
[…] Eastern Red Bat will eavesdrop on the sonar calls of other red bats to locate potential insect prey.
1993, David W. Nagorsen, Robert Mark Brigham, Royal British Columbia Museum, Bats of British Columbia, page 1091 more example
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.
2014, Ken Yasukawa, Animal Behavior: How and Why Animals Do the Things They Do
nouneavesdrop (countable and uncountable, plural eavesdrops)
plural eavesdrops
- countableuncountableThe space around a house on which such water drips.
- countableA concealed aperture through which an occupant of a building can surreptitiously listen to people talking at an entrance to the building.
- countableThe act of intentionally hearing a conversation not intended to be heard.
Were you having a little eavesdrop on us last night?
Synonyms & antonyms
Similar
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
From eaves + drop; the "listening" sense derives from the notion of the listener standing in the area denoted by the physical sense.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَنَصَّتَ, تَسَمَّعَ
- تَنَصَّتَ (tanaṣṣata)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- تَسَمَّعَ (tasammaʕa)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Bulgarian подслу́швам, капчук
- подслу́швам (podslúšvam)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- капчук (kapčuk)dripping of rain from the eaves of a house
Chinese Cantonese 偷聽 /偷听
- 偷聽 /偷听 (tau¹ teng¹)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Chinese Mandarin 偷聽 /偷听, 竊聽 /窃听
- 偷聽 /偷听 (tōutīng)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- 竊聽 /窃听 (qiètīng)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- 聽牆根 /听墙根 (tīng qiánggēn)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Czech odposlouchávat, odposlechnout
- odposlouchávatto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- odposlechnoutto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Danish smuglytte, aflytte
- smuglytteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- aflytteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- lytteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Dutch afluisteren, luistervinken
- afluisterento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- luistervinkento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Esperanto subaŭskulti
- subaŭskultito hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Finnish salakuunnella, räystäänalunen
- salakuunnellato hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- räystäänalunenspace around a house on which such water drips
French être aux écoutes, écouter secrètement
- être aux écoutesto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- écouter secrètementto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- écouter discrètementto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- chéneauspace around a house on which such water drips
German belauschen, horchen
- belauschento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- horchento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- lauschento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- abhörento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- zuhörento hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- Traufespace around a house on which such water drips
- Traufliniespace around a house on which such water drips
- lauschenconcealed aperture through which an occupant can surreptitiously listen to people
Greek κρυφακούω
- κρυφακούω (kryfakoúo)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Hebrew צוֹתֵת
- צוֹתֵת (tsotét)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Hindi अनकना
- अनकना (anaknā)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Hungarian hallgatózik, kihallgat
- hallgatózikto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- kihallgatto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- lehallgatto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Irish cúléist
- cúléistto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Italian origliare, sgocciolatoio
- origliareto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- sgocciolatoiodripping of rain from the eaves of a house
- sgoccioliodripping of rain from the eaves of a house
- sgocciolatoiospace around a house on which such water drips
Japanese 立ち聞きする
- 立ち聞きする (tachigiki suru)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Korean 엿듣다
- 엿듣다 (yeotdeutda)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Latin subauscultō
- subauscultōto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Māori whakarongo kōrero
- whakarongo kōreroto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Norwegian overhøre, tjuvlytte
- overhøreto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- tjuvlytteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- tyvlytteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Persian فالگوش ایستادن, شنود
- فالگوش ایستادن (fâlguš istâdan)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- شنود (šonud)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- استراق سمع کردن (esterâq-e sam' kardan)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Polish podsłuchiwać, podsłuchać
- podsłuchiwaćto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- podsłuchaćto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Portuguese ouvir/escutar escondido
- ouvir/escutar escondidoto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Romanian trage cu urechea
- trage cu urecheato hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Russian подслу́шивать, подслу́шать
- подслу́шивать (podslúšivatʹ)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- подслу́шать (podslúšatʹ)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Scottish Gaelic dèan farchluais
- dèan farchluaisto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Slovak načúvať, odpočúvať
- načúvaťto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- odpočúvaťto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Spanish escuchar disimuladamente, escuchar escondidamente
- escuchar disimuladamenteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- escuchar escondidamenteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- escuchar furtivamenteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- escuchar recatadamenteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- escuchar cautelosamenteto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Swedish tjuvlyssna
- tjuvlyssnato hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Thai ดักฟัง
- ดักฟัง (dàk-fang)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Turkish kulak misafiri olmak (overhear), kulak kabartmak
- kulak misafiri olmak (overhear)to hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- kulak kabartmakto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Vietnamese nghe lén, nghe trộm
- nghe lénto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
- nghe trộmto hear a conversation one is not intended to hear
Cite this entry
APA
eavesdrop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eavesdrop
MLA
“eavesdrop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eavesdrop. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “eavesdrop,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/eavesdrop.
Source: eavesdrop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.