Meanings
plural listening posts
- governmentA position established for the purpose of detecting the enemy's movements by means of listening.
- A facility established to monitor radio and microwave signals and analyse their content to secure information and intelligence for use by the security and diplomatic community and others.
Shepard: Why are you out here in the first place? Lieutenant Durand: There's been a lot of pirate activity in this cluster. We set up a chain of listening posts in the local systems in case they have a staging base.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: NepmosSynonyms: listening station
- Any location frequented by a journalist in search of stories or gossip.
Students discover "listening posts" within the community and produce stories from community voices […]
2000, APME Journalism Studies, page 172 more examples
He probably has "listening posts" which he visits regularly in search of stray items of news. These may be the general store, the barber shop, the ministers' homes, the Chamber of Commerce and the local or state police headquarters.
1945, Elmo Scott Watson, Jobs in Rural Journalism, page 25The British crown colony of Hong Kong is the West's primary listening post for information on Red China, which does not grant entry visas to many foreigners.
1963, Loren Fessler, The Editors of LIFE, “About the Writer”, in China (LIFE World Library), New York: Time Incorporated, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 4
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA facility established to monitor radio and microwave signals and analyse their content to secure information and intelligence for use by the security and diplomatic community and others.
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 監聽哨 /监听哨, 監聽站 /监听站
- 監聽哨 /监听哨 (jiāntīngshào)position to detect enemy's movements by listening
- 監聽站 /监听站 (jiāntīngzhàn)facility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
- 新聞採集點 /新闻采集点 (xīnwén cǎijí diǎn)location frequented by a journalist
Finnish kuulovartio, kuunteluasema
- kuulovartioposition to detect enemy's movements by listening
- kuunteluasemafacility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
- kuuntelupaikkalocation frequented by a journalist
French poste d'écoute
- poste d'écoutefacility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
German Lauschposten, Horchposten
- Lauschpostenposition to detect enemy's movements by listening
- Horchpostenposition to detect enemy's movements by listening
- Horchpostenfacility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
- Abhörpostenfacility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
- Abhörstellefacility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
- Funkabhörstellefacility established to monitor radio and microwave signals
Swedish lyssnarpost
- lyssnarpostposition to detect enemy's movements by listening
Cite this entry
listening post. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/listening%20post
“listening post.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/listening%20post. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “listening post,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/listening%20post.
Source: listening post on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.