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Webster’s Dictionary (1828)



8 words match “ESPY”

ESPY v. 5 definitions
ed, or not obvious to notice; to see at a glance; to discern unexpectedly; to spy; as, to espy land; to espy a man in a crowd. As one of them opened his sack to give his ass provender in the inn, . . . he espied his money. Gen. xlii. 27. A goodly vessel did I then espy Come like a giant from a haven broad. Wordsworth.…
BALKER n.
A person who stands on a rock or eminence to espy the shoals of herring, etc., and to give notice to the men in boats which way they pass; a conder; a huer.
DESCRY v.
To spy out or discover by the eye, as objects distant or obscure; to espy; to recognize; to discern; to discover. And the house of Joseph sent to descry Bethel. Judg. i. 23. Edmund, I think, is gone . . . to descry The strength o' the enemy. Shak. And now their way to earth they had descried. Milton.…
DISCOVER v.
of, as of a thing existing already, but not perceived or known; to find; to ascertain; to espy; to detect. Some to discover islands far away. Shak.
ESPIAL n.
The act of espying; notice; discovery. Screened from espial by the jutting cape. Byron.
REEK v.
moist; to be full of fumes; to steam; to smoke; to exhale. Few chimneys reeking you shall espy. Spenser. I found me laid In balmy sweat, which with his beams the sun Soon dried, and on the reeking moisture fed. Milton. The coffee rooms reeked with tobacco. Macualay.
SPECULATORY a.
Intended or adapted for viewing or espying; having oversight. T. Warton.
SPY v.
To gain sight of; to discover at a distance, or in a state of concealment; to espy; to see. One in reading, skipped over all sentences where he spied a note of admiration. Swift.