[es-pee-uh-nahzh, -nij, es-pee-uh-nahzh] 
| 1. | the act or practice of spying. |
| 2. | the use of spies by a government to discover the military and political secrets of other nations. |
| 3. | the use of spies by a corporation or the like to acquire the plans, technical knowledge, etc., of a competitor: industrial espionage. |
| es·pi·o·nage (ěs'pē-ə-näzh', -nĭj) n. The act or practice of spying or of using spies to obtain secret information, as about another government or a business competitor. [French espionnage, from espionner, to spy, from Old French espion, spy, from Old Italian spione, of Germanic origin; see spek- in Indo-European roots.] |
