| a private detective. |
| private eye n. See private investigator. |
| private investigator n. Abbr. PI A person privately hired to do investigative or detective work. Also called private detective, private eye. |
private eye
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private eye
A privately employed detective, as opposed to one working for the police or another authority. For example, The children loved stories about private eyes, and Janey wanted to become one. This expression comes from the term private investigator, the "i" of investigator being changed to "eye," which plays on the idea of a person looking into things. [1930s]
