[L. specio.]

1. To see at a distance; to have the first sight of a thing remove. Seamen espy land as they approach it.

2. To see or discover something intended to be hid, or in a degree concealed and not very visible; as, to espy a man in a crowd, or a thief in a wood.

3. To discover unexpectedly.

As one of them opened his sack, he espied his money. Genesis 42:27.

4. To inspect narrowly; to examine and make discoveries.

Moses sent me to espy out the land, and I brought him word again. Joshua 14:7.