Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - eavesdrop

(eavesdrops, eavesdropping, eavesdropped) If you eavesdrop on someone, you listen secretly to what they are saying. The government illegally eavesdropped on his telephone conversations... The housemaid eavesdropped from behind the kitchen door. = listen in VERB: V on n, V • eavesdropping ...foreign electronic eavesdropping on army communications. N-UNCOUNT • eavesdropper (eavesdroppers) Modern technology enables eavesdroppers to pick up conversations through windows or walls. N-COUNT