English

Verb

eavesdropping

1. present participle of eavesdrop

Noun

eavesdropping ‎(countable and uncountable, plural eavesdroppings)

1. Listening secretly to private conversation of others.
   • 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 7, in Well Tackled!:

     The detective kept them in view. He made his way casually along the inside of the shelter until he reached an open scuttle close to where the two men were standing talking. Eavesdropping was not a thing Larard would have practised from choice, but there were times when, in the public interest, he had to do it, and this was one of them.

2. (telecoms) The interception of electronic communication.

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