eavesdrop v : listen without the speaker's knowledge; "the jealous man was eavesdropping on his wife's conversations" [syn: listen in] [also: eavesdropping, eavesdropped]

English

Pronunciation

• a UK /ˈiːvzˌdɹɒp/, /"i:vz%drQp/

Verb

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.

Derived terms

• eavesdropper

Translations

Noun

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

Synonyms

• eavesdrip

To eavesdrop, used as a verb, refers to eavesdropping, the act of surreptitiously listening to a private conversation.

As a noun, in Architecture, it can refer to:

• Eavesdrop or eavesdrip, the width of ground around a house or building which receives the rain water dropping from the eaves.
• an eavesdrop — a small hole under the eaves used to listen in (eavesdrop, see above) on the conversation of persons awaiting admission to the building.

In Film:

• Eavesdrop (film)'', the 2008 movie written and directed by Matthew Miele and produced by Chris Fetchko.

attend, attend to, auscultate, be all ears, bend an ear, bug, cock the ears, examine by ear, give attention, give audience to, give ear, hark, hear, hear out, hearken, heed, intercept, lend an ear, listen, listen at, listen in, listen to, overhear, pry, sit in on, snoop, spy, tap, wiretap