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# snoop

verb (snoop, snoops, snooped, snooping); noun (a snoop, snoops)

«snoop» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. To snoop is to look secretly around a place or into someone's private things to find out about them. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#m1)
2. A snoop is a person who snoops, someone nosy. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#m2)
3. (informal) To snoop on someone is to spy on them or watch what they do. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#m3)

### In the lessons

In everyday life snooping means poking into things that are not yours, like reading someone's diary or looking in drawers; it is seen as rude. In stories detectives and nosy neighbours snoop to find clues. Phrases: «snoop around», «snoop on someone», «snoop through», «a nosy snoop».

### Examples

- Stop snooping in my bag! [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x1)
- My little brother snooped around my room while I was out. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x2)
- The detective snooped through the old letters looking for a clue. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x3)
- Our neighbour is such a snoop; she always watches from her window. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x4)
- I caught him snooping on my phone. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x5)
- The cat snooped about the kitchen for scraps. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x6)
- Apps should not snoop on what children do online. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/#x7)

### Note

Mostly informal. Past: snooped. Usually negative: calling someone a snoop is a mild insult. Similar: pry, nose about, spy. «Snoopy» is the name of a famous cartoon dog, and «snoopy» (adjective) means nosy.

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «snoop» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/snoop/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«snoop» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/snoop.html) on Mova free.