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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.

A boat sent to make discoveries and bring intelligence. Arbuthnot.

A small telescope for viewing distant terrestrial objects.

, n. Act or business of spying. [R.]

See Pinnace, n., 1 (a).

Formed into short, close ringlets; frizzed; crisp; as, crispy locks.

rtly concealed, 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.…

A kind of minuet, in triple time, of French origin, popular in the reign of Queen Elizabeth and for some time after; -- called also passing measure, and passymeasure. Percy Smith.

Like a rasp, or the sound made by a rasp; grating. R. D. Blackmore.

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.

Fig.: A spy or detective; a constable.

ded in darkness; very dark or gloomy; as, a black night; the heavens black with clouds. I spy a black, suspicious, threatening cloud. Shak.

lack stripes, very hard in texture. It is a species of ebony, and is obtained from the Diospyros qusesita. Called also Coromandel wood.

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.…

f, 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.

Exploring; spying. B. Jonson.

The act of espying; notice; discovery. Screened from espial by the jutting cape. Byron.

Pope. He . . . had pretended to be estranged from the Whigs, and had promised to act as a spy upon them. Macaulay.

An optical glass; a lens; a spyglass; -- in the plural, spectacles; as, a pair of glasses; he wears glasses.

Treacherous; betraying. Judas hole, a peephole or secret opening for spying. -- Judas kiss, a deceitful and treacherous kiss. -- Judas tree (Bot.), a leguminous tree of the genus Cercis, with pretty, rose-colored flowers in clusters along the branches. Judas is said to have hanged himself on a tree of this genus (C.…