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Recent Examples of surveil
In the 1960s and 1970s, the FBI ran a program called COINTEL PRO — the Counterintelligence Program — using personal data to surveil Vietnam War protesters and civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr.
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Barbara McQuade, Twin Cities, 15 Jan. 2026
The agency's traditional work method has long been to surveil, surround and make an arrest as quickly and quietly as possible – no spectators.
—Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 13 Dec. 2025
But the Drug Enforcement Administration doesn’t currently have the resources to surveil every gas station, smoke shop, and liquor store in the country, and closely policing those settings would mean taking agents off more serious cases, Jim Crotty, a former DEA official, told me.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2025
At the heart of the controversy is a fear that the Chinese government will coerce TP-Link or use its hardware to surveil Americans.
—PC Magazine, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for surveil
Barbara McQuade, Twin Cities, 15 Jan. 2026
The agency's traditional work method has long been to surveil, surround and make an arrest as quickly and quietly as possible – no spectators.
—Lauren Villagran, USA Today, 13 Dec. 2025
But the Drug Enforcement Administration doesn’t currently have the resources to surveil every gas station, smoke shop, and liquor store in the country, and closely policing those settings would mean taking agents off more serious cases, Jim Crotty, a former DEA official, told me.
—Nicholas Florko, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2025
At the heart of the controversy is a fear that the Chinese government will coerce TP-Link or use its hardware to surveil Americans.
—PC Magazine, 19 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for surveil
Recent Examples of Synonyms for surveil
Verb
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Where that fresh water enters the ocean matters, but researchers have struggled to monitor it at scale.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
6 Feb. 2026
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After reviewing over 30 years of monitoring data, entomologists at the University of Florida (UF) now say both the Formosan and Asian subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus and Coptotermes gestroi) are expanding their range of destruction.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Why some Ukrainians agree to spy The profile of Ukrainians recruited by Russia is a broad one.—
Daria Tarasova-Markina,
CNN Money,
11 Feb. 2026
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When Claire and Frank retreat to Inverness on holiday following the end of WWII, Frank spies the spectre of a Highlander staring up into Claire's window that abruptly vanishes.—
Amy Wilkinson,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Harry suggested that information had come from eavesdropping on his phone calls or having private investigators snoop on him.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
21 Jan. 2026
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Untrustworthy employees There have been cases where employees at security companies snooped through camera feeds.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Surveil.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/surveil. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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