eavesdrop

The president sometimes messes with the reporters on the line or lets people around him eavesdrop on speakerphone.

From Slate ● Mar. 18, 2026

In rehearsal, Mays fully inhabits his role — and his costume — moving with a lithe formality as he strives to eavesdrop on Mozart and Constanze.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026

Who has the capacity to eavesdrop on a cellphone chat between top Russian and American officials?

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025

Their ability to detect low-frequency sounds helps them eavesdrop on the mating calls of frogs.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 1, 2025

“I can’t believe you managed to eavesdrop through that drainpipe,” Sticky said.

From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart

One of the few au courant innovations on “What’s in the Box?” involves surveillance: As one couple answers questions, the camera eavesdrops on the conversations among their competition, which can range from catty to worse.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 16, 2025

Mailata, a five-year veteran, eavesdrops on Kelce’s tutorials to Jurgens so he can learn more about football.

From Washington Post ● Jan. 19, 2023

Madoc breezily retrieves a cocktail and eavesdrops on the guests' appraisals of his latest, ranging from envious to gushing.

From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2022

The musical eavesdrops on a choreographer as she procrastinates over a sad task in her garden and warily ponders the glamour and fuss of a lifetime achievement award.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2021

Mom eavesdrops on Abuela and me then lambastes us with one of her sixty-odd diatribes when she doesn’t like what she hears.

From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García

I have eavesdropped on other patients just losing their minds, saying this is absolutely ridiculous.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

The satellites eavesdropped on Russian missiles and defense installations.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2025

What none of the call's participants know is that they're being eavesdropped on - and their conversation is being recorded.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2024

Amid revelations that the NSA had eavesdropped on allied leaders — including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.N. diplomats — President Barack Obama in 2013 ordered the agency to stop the practice.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 15, 2023

As all this unfolded, busybody that I am, I kept tabs, eavesdropped, observed.

From "Wishtree" by Katherine Applegate

It was part of a network of country houses with similar set-ups for eavesdropping, with the gathered intelligence then shared with Bletchley Park.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

A big reason for its continued survival: the effective surveillance of all residents—including eavesdropping on calls—and its iron-fisted control of every aspect of society, from sports centers to concert halls.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

The moment the door to the flat was forced was recorded on an audio eavesdropping device - a bug - that UK law enforcement had put in the flat.

From BBC ● Mar. 6, 2026

The fourth wall, encoded in the architecture of the proscenium stage, fosters the illusion that audiences are eavesdropping on a cordoned off reality.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2025

I did some more eavesdropping and heard Detective Inspector Pearce saying, ‘It could have been anyone phoning, Gloria. Not necessarily Salim. Anyone who had found or borrowed his phone.’

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd