ROI

(military, espionage) Initialism of region of interest.


shadowing

en-noun

shadowing (countable and uncountable, plural shadowings)

(espionage) Secretly or discreetly tracking or following someone, keeping under surveillance.


proprietary

From French propriétaire, from Latin proprietārius. By surface analysis, propriety + -ary. Compare with the Latin proprietas (“property”) and proprius (“ownership”).

For all practical purposes, the proprietaries conduct their own financial affairs with a minimum of oversight from CIA headquarters.

1975, Victor Marchetti, John D. Marks, The CIA and the Cult of Intelligence, page 159:

The “operating proprietaries” actually do business as private firms. They are incorporated where they are officed, they file the applicable state and federal tax returns, and they obtain the licenses necessary to a legitimate business operation.

2013, Joseph Goulden, The Dictionary of Espionage: Spyspeak into English, page 175:

(espionage) A company doing legitimate business while also serving as a front for espionage.


company

company (countable and uncountable, plural companies)

→ Hindi: कंपनी (kampnī)

desc

→ Hokkien: 公班衙 (kong-pan-gêe / kong-pan-gê)

→ Malay: kompeni

→ Scottish Gaelic: companaidh

→ Swahili: kampuni

From Middle English companye (“a team; companionship”), from Old French compaignie (“companionship”) (Modern French: compagnie), possibly from Late Latin *compania, but this word is not attested. Old French compaignie is equivalent to Old French compaignon (Modern French: compagnon) + -ie. More at companion.
Displaced native Old English werod, gefer, getæl, and hired.

inh

who keeps company with the wolf will learn to howl

you don't dip your pen in company ink

don't fish off the company dock, you don't dip your pen in the company inkwell, you don't fish off the company pier

As he had worked for the CIA for over 30 years, he would soon take retirement from the company.

A team; a group of people who work together professionally.

(espionage, informal) An intelligence service.


CI

en-noun

CI (countable and uncountable, plural CIs)

(espionage) Initialism of counterintelligence.


burn

en-verb

burn (third-person singular simple present burns, present participle burning, simple past and past participle burned or (mostly Commonwealth) burnt or (obsolete) brent)

burns (present singular third-person)
burning (participle present)
burned (participle past)
burned (past)
burnt (Commonwealth participle past)
burnt (Commonwealth past)
brent (obsolete participle past)
brent (obsolete past)
burn (infinitive)

Sranan Tongo: bron

Aukan: boon

From Middle English bernen, birnen, from Old English birnan (“to burn”), metathesis from Proto-West Germanic *brinnan, from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw-, present stem from *bʰrewh₁-. Doublet of brew.
See also Middle Irish brennim (“drink up”), bruinnim (“bubble up”); also Middle Irish bréo (“flame”), Albanian burth (“Cyclamen hederifolium, mouth burning”), Sanskrit भुरति (bhurati, “moves quickly, twitches, fidgets”). More at brew.

verbranden

chemistry: to cause to combine with oxygen or other active agent

He had already burned his cover with Mrs. Phillips, and it was not a mistake he intended to make again.

Eventually they'd report back to Ryker, and he still didn't know if Ryker had personally burned his cover and sent assassins after him, or if the SSU had a mole. Until he knew for certain, he had to play this safe.

2013, Vanessa Kier, Vengeance: The SSU Book 1:

(transitive, espionage) To compromise (an agent's cover story).

"How does Leipzig burn him precisely?" Enderby insisted. "What's the pressure? Dirty pix—well, okay. Karla's a puritan, so's Kirov. But I mean, Christ, this isn't the fifties, is it? […]


cover

en-noun

cover (countable and uncountable, plural covers)

→ Hijazi Arabic: كَڤَر (kavar)

→ Portuguese: cover

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *ḱe-?
Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm
Proto-Italic *kom
Old Latin com
Latin cum
Latin con-
Proto-Indo-European *h₁ep-?
Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi
Proto-Indo-European *h₂wer-
Proto-Indo-European *-yeti
Latin operiō
Latin cooperiō
Old French covrirbor.
Middle English coveren
English cover
From Middle English coveren, borrowed from Old French covrir, cueuvrir (modern French couvrir), from Late Latin coperire, from Latin cooperiō (“I cover completely”), from co- (intensive prefix) + operiō (“I close, cover”). Displaced native Middle English thecchen and bethecchen (“to cover”) (from Old English þeccan, beþeccan (“to cover”)), Middle English helen, (over)helen, (for)helen (“to cover, conceal”) (from Old English helan (“to conceal, cover, hide”)), Middle English wrien, (be)wreon (“to cover”) (from Old English (be)wrēon (“to cover”)), Middle English hodren, hothren (“to cover up”) (from Low German hudren (“to cover up”)).
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the original sense of the verb and noun cover was “hide from view” as in its cognate covert. Except in the limited sense of “cover again”, the word recover is unrelated and is cognate with recuperate. Cognate with Spanish cubrir (“to cover”).

cumhdach

A cloth or similar material used to protect underlying items from dust, sunlight, insects etc. when not being used.

throw nickels around like manhole covers

(espionage) A persona maintained by a spy or undercover operative; cover story.

peitetarina

espionage: persona maintained by an operative


asset

Back-formation from assets, from Anglo-Norman asetz, from Old French assez (“enough”). Compare Middle English asseth.


mole

From Middle English molle (“mole”), molde, mole, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *mulaz, *mulhaz (“mole, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *molg-, *molk- (“slug, salamander”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)melw- (“to grind, crush, beat”).
Cognate with North Frisian mull (“mole”), Saterland Frisian molle (“mole”), Dutch mol (“mole”), Low German Mol, Mul (“mole”), German Molch (“salamander, newt”), Old Russian смолжь (smolžʹ, “snail”), Czech mlž (“clam”).
Derivation as an abbreviation of Middle English molewarpe, a variation of moldewarpe, moldwerp (“mole”) in Middle English is unexplained and probably unlikely due to the simultaneous occurrence of both words. See mouldwarp.

der

(espionage) An internal spy, a person who involves themself with an enemy organisation, especially an intelligence or governmental organisation, to determine and betray its secrets from within.


treff

The Moscow experts on treffs perform their duty with ponderous, often ridiculous, awkwardness. Before the atomic spy Allan Nunn May left Canada to go to London, a treff in London had to be arranged for him and another agent.

1955, David J. Dallin, Soviet Espionage, page 495:


double agent

Coordinate term: triple agent

(espionage) A spy who pretends to work for one side, when they are actually working for or passing information to the other.


double

en-verb

double (third-person singular simple present doubles, present participle doubling, simple past and past participle doubled)

doubles (present singular third-person)
doubling (participle present)
doubled (participle past)
doubled (past)

PIE word
 *dwóh₁
From Middle English double, from Old French doble, double, from Latin duplus (“twofold”). Doublet of doppio and duple.

Was this simply the cover name of an Allied spy-code named the Brass Monkey? […] The possibility that the Brass Monkey himself was "doubling" (with headquarters' approval, of course) is too logical […]

(espionage, intransitive) To operate as a double agent.


ghost

en-noun

ghost (countable and uncountable, plural ghosts)

→ Japanese: ゴースト (gōsuto)

Inherited from Middle English gost, from Old English gāst (which was the word for “spirit” as well as “ghost”; the original sense survives in Modern English Holy Ghost), from Proto-West Germanic *gaist, from Proto-Germanic *gaistaz, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰéysdos, derived from *ǵʰéysd- (“anger, agitation”).
The ⟨h⟩ in the spelling appears in the Prologue to William Caxton's Royal Book, printed in 1484, in a reference to the ‘Holy Ghoost’, likely introduced by Caxton's assistant, Wynkyn de Worde, as a result of Flemish influence, where it was spelled gheest at the time. Doublet of geist.

(espionage) A covert (and deniable) agent.


Romeo

From Italian Romeo, from Ancient Greek Ῥωμαῖος (Rhōmaîos, “Roman”).

der

(espionage) A spy specialised in seducing persons of interest, in particular a man targeting women.


resident

From Middle English resident, from Anglo-Norman resident, from Latin residēns, present participle of resideō (“to remain behind, reside, dwell”), equivalent to reside + -ent, from re- (“back”) + sedeō (“I sit”). Doublet of resiant and rezident. The espionage sense is a semantic loan from Russian резиде́нт (rezidént).

semantic loan

(espionage) Alternative form of rezident


willy

(espionage) A person who is manipulated into serving as a useful agent without knowing it.


spy

From Middle English spien, aphetic variant of earlier espien (“to espy”), from Old French espier (“to spy”), from Frankish *spehōn (“to spy”), from Proto-Germanic *spehōną (“to see, look”), from Proto-Indo-European *speḱ- (“to look”). Akin to German spähen (“to spy”), Dutch spieden (“to spy”).
The noun displaced native Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "mirror." In this sense, the verb displaced Old English sċēawian, which was also the word for "to watch" and became the Modern English word show.

ncog

The dead leap at the throat, destroy
The meaning of the day; dark forms
Have scaled your walls, and spies betray
Old secrets to amorphous swarms.

1941, Theodore Roethke, “Feud”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 4:

Even without hovering drones, a lurking assassin, a thumping score and a denouement, the real-life story of Edward Snowden, a rogue spy on the run, could be straight out of the cinema. But, as with Hollywood, the subplots and exotic locations may distract from the real message: America’s discomfort and its foes’ glee.

2013 June 29, “Travels and travails”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8842, page 55:

(espionage) A person who secretly watches and examines the actions of other individuals or organizations and gathers information on them (usually to gain an advantage).


surveillance

en-noun

surveillance (countable and uncountable, plural surveillances)

Unadapted borrowing from French surveillance (“a watching over, overseeing, supervision”), from surveiller (“to watch, oversee”), from sur- (“over”) + veiller (“to watch”), from Middle French, from Old French veillier (“to stay awake”), from Latin vigilāre, present active infinitive of vigilō (“I am watchful”). More at vigilant.

ubor

The threat of terrorism to the British lies in the overreaction to it of British governments. Each one in turn clicks up the ratchet of surveillance, intrusion and security. Each one diminishes liberty.

2012 December 14, Simon Jenkins, “We mustn't overreact to North Korea boys' toys”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 188, number 2, page 23:

Cook was making an impassioned plea to end the technology industry’s collection and sale of user data. “This is surveillance,” he continued.

2019 January 31, Ian Bogost, quoting Tim Cook, “Apple’s Empty Grandstanding About Privacy”, in The Atlantic:

(military, espionage) Systematic observation of places and people by visual, aural, electronic, photographic or other means.


spook

Borrowed from Dutch spook (“ghost”), from Middle Dutch spooc (“spook, ghost”). Cognate with Middle Low German spôk, spûk (“apparition, ghost”), Middle High German gespük (“a haunting”), German Spuk, Danish spøge (“to haunt”), Swedish spöke (“ghost”). Doublet of puck.

cog

From Ian Fleming to John Le Carre - authors have long been fascinated by the world of espionage. But, asks the BBC’s Gordon Corera, what do real life spooks make of fictional spies?

2009 July 24, “Spies like them”, in BBC News Magazine:

The congressional study frets that Huawei’s and ZTE’s products could be used as Trojan horses by Chinese spooks.

2012 October 13, “Huawei and ZTE: Put on hold”, in The Economist:

(espionage, slang) An undercover agent or spy.


illegal

Borrowed from French illégal, from Medieval Latin illegalis, from Latin legalis, by surface analysis, il- + legal. In senses relating to immigration, via clipping from illegal alien or illegal immigrant.

Anna Chapman, whose glamorous appearance won her more publicity in the Western media than all the other illegals combined, was so successfully deceived by a US sting operation that she handed over her SVR laptop to an FBI agent posing as a Russian.

2012, Christopher Andrew, ‘Colder War’, Literary Review, number 399:

Traditionally, illegals have been extremely hard for counterintelligence agencies to find, but in a world of biometric data, facial recognition software and open source investigation possibilities, it has become harder for Russia to keep its illegals below the radar.

2022 August 26, Shaun Walker, “Socialite who charmed Nato staff in Naples was Russian spy, say investigators”, in The Guardian:

(espionage) A spy operating abroad illegally and under non-official cover, without visible ties to his or her country’s authorities.


measles

en-noun

measles pl (normally plural, singular measle)

Either from Middle Dutch masels (“blood blisters, measels”) or Middle Low German maselen (“red blemishes, measels”), both from Old High German masala (“blood blister, phlegmon”). Doublet of measlings. Cognate with mazer & mase and Middle Low German masele & māsel. Influenced in pronunciation and some senses by mesel (“leprous, leper”).

der

[…] they would prefer having him "die of the measles," as wags at the CIA put it, than be punished by legal means. If there is no convenient way of administering the "measles," they may even favor simply letting him go.

1975, Miles Copeland, Beyond Cloak and Dagger: Inside the CIA, page 204:

Such final solutions, sometimes referred to as termination with extreme prejudice, are known in the CIA as dying of the measles — that is, the death appears to be of natural causes.

1977, Raymond Edward Palmer, The Making of a Spy, page 99:

(US, espionage jargon) A discreet assassination made to look like death from any natural cause.


open-source

open-source intelligence

The ramifications of disinformation spill on to the streets with tangible, often devastating real-world consequences. These processes were already under way in 2014, when I founded the open-source investigative group Bellingcat.

2023 December 16, Eliot Higgins, “Moment of truth”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 1:

(espionage) Relying on publicly available information (open sources).


open source

Compound of open + source, coined by Christine Peterson in 1998 for software as an umbrella term to encompass existing concepts such as free software, freedomware, and sourceware.

(espionage) Information that is in the public domain and available to everybody.


residence

en-noun

residence (countable and uncountable, plural residences)

From Middle English residence, from Old French residence, from Medieval Latin residentia, from residēns, present participle of resideō, equivalent to reside + -ence.


controller

/kənˈtɹəʊlə/

From Middle English countreroller, from Anglo-Norman contreroulour and Middle French contreroleur (French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrārotulātor, from *contrārotulāre (from which control). By surface analysis, control + -er.

(espionage) The person who supervises and handles communication with an agent in the field.


intel

Intel is important in espionage.

We have reason to believe one of our people is giving intel to the enemy. Hit an enemy communication center and get us a name.

2017, BioWare, Mass Effect: Andromeda (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Identify the Spy:

Aaaaaand that’s pretty much everything we know about Zazie and David’s ‘ship, but definitely check back here for any and all intel on the couple. ❤

2024 October 30, Gretty Garcia, “Zazie Beetz and David Rysdahl’s Relationship Timeline All in One Place”, in Cosmopolitan:

(especially espionage and military) Intelligence (secret information).


honeypot

From Middle English hwny pott; equivalent to honey + pot.

And the American Embassy in Moscow was infiltrated thanks to “honeypots,” Soviet women who seduced Marine guards.

1989, The Washingtonian, volume 24, page 25:

Perhaps in order to create his own, more controlled environment for debaucherie, he set up a house of prostitution with Gestapo funds, justifying it as a "honeypot" with which to ensnare unsuspecting foreign diplomats.

1996, John H. Waller, The Unseen War in Europe: Espionage and Conspiracy in the Second World War, Random House, →ISBN, page 226:

The NKVD uses attractive ballerinas for honeypot espionage.

2004, Richard C.S. Trahair, Encyclopedia of Cold War Espionage, Spies, and Secret Operations, Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 353:

(figuratively) Something or someone similarly sweet or enticing, particularly:

(espionage) A spy (typically attractive and female) who uses sex to trap and blackmail a target.


residency

residency (countable and uncountable, plural residencies)


U

en-adj

U (not generally comparable, comparative Uer, superlative Uest)

An abbreviation of a word or term beginning with the letter U. Adjective sense 1 (“characteristic of the upper classes”) was coined by British linguist Alan S. C. Ross (1907–1980) in a 1954 article, and popularized by the English journalist and writer Nancy Mitford (1904–1973).

(not comparable, education, espionage) Usually in parentheses: abbreviation of unclassified.


tradecraft

en-noun

tradecraft (countable and uncountable, plural tradecrafts)

(espionage) The methods used in espionage and clandestine operations.


backstop

[…] to be set up in Indonesia with a phony book and school supplies company established in New York City as a backstop.

1976, Joseph Burkholder Smith, Portrait of a Cold Warrior, page 116:

Closely representing an alibi, creating a backstop could involve such measures as having people available to verify the details of an agent's cover story.

1990, Bruce W. Watson, Susan M. Watson, Gerald W. Hopple, United States intelligence: an encyclopedia, page 1974:

(espionage) Something serving to bolster or support a cover story etc.


flutter

en-verb

flutter (third-person singular simple present flutters, present participle fluttering, simple past and past participle fluttered)

flutters (present singular third-person)
fluttering (participle present)
fluttered (participle past)
fluttered (past)

From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), equivalent to float + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with West Frisian flodderje (“to flutter, beat”), Dutch flodderen (“to flutter, wave”), Low German fluttern, fluddern (“to flutter”), German flittern (“to sparkle, glitter”). More at float.

cog

This was the first time that Nosenko had been subjected to a lie detector — or what the CIA called fluttering. The Soviet Union did not use such devices for interrogation.

1978, Edward Jay Epstein, Legend: The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald, page 38:

"Anyway, she cracked and we fluttered her and—" / "Fluttered her?" / "Sorry, gave her a polygraph, a lie detector test. And she passed, more or less, […]

(espionage, slang) To subject to a lie detector test.


backstory

From back- (prefix meaning ‘in, into, or towards the past’) + story.

prefix

(chiefly espionage, law enforcement) A fictitious account of a person's history designed to conceal their actual history and motives.


sneaky

[…] in cooperation with the National Security Agency, installs and maintains "sneakies" throughout the U.S.S.R. and Communist China — but increasingly, denied areas are surveyed more simply.

1974, Miles Copeland, Without cloak or dagger: the truth about the new espionage, page 244:

[…] has used travellers to plant 'sneakies' - small electronic transmitting devices which form part of a surveillance network.

1991, Chapman Pincher, The Truth about Dirty Tricks:

(espionage, slang) Any device used for covert surveillance.


cousins

From cousin + -s (suffix forming pluralia tantum, regular plurals of nouns, and the third-person singular indicative present tense forms of verbs).
The plural noun sense 1 (“American or British intelligence services”) was popularized in the works of the English author John le Carré (David John Moore Cornwell; 1930–2020).

suffix

[T]he grounded fieldmen, the trainers and the case officers who made their own murmured caucus always – they saw the question solely in operational terms. […] They saw the shotgun marriage with the Cousins as just another skilful bit of tradecraft in a long and delicate poker game.

1977, John le Carré [pseudonym; David John Moore Cornwell], chapter I, in The Honourable Schoolboy, London: Hodder and Stoughton, →ISBN, page 16:

(espionage, slang) The American intelligence services (from a British perspective) or the British intelligence services (from an American perspective).


SDR

en-noun

SDR (countable and uncountable, plural SDRs)

(espionage) Initialism of surveillance detection route.


code name

(business, espionage, military) A name used to clandestinely identify somebody or something, either for military or espionage purposes, or for commercial confidentiality.

代號

name used to clandestinely identify something


turn around

en-verb

turn around (third-person singular simple present turns around, present participle turning around, simple past and past participle turned around)

turns around (present singular third-person)
turning around (participle present)
turned around (participle past)
turned around (past)

kääntää

idiomatic: to effect a positive reversal of a trend

Some months ago, the Captain had come to the FBI with a story that he had been contacted by Soviet agents, and the FBI had “turned him around” and used him to plant false and specially made up classified material of no importance on the Soviets.

2014, Joseph DiMona, To the Eagle's Nest:

(transitive, espionage) To convert (an agent) to work for one's own side.


NOC

en-noun

NOC (countable and uncountable, plural NOCs)

non-official cover
non-official cover#English

(espionage) Initialism of non-official cover.


sinology

From sino- (“China”) + -logy (“study of”).

People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China

(Cold War, politics, espionage) The study of the internal politics of the high members of the government of the People's Republic of China.


FSB

From Russian ФСБ (FSB), initialism of Федеральная Служба Безопасности (Federalʹnaja Služba Bezopasnosti, “Federal Security Service”).

Possible victims included Roman Tsepov, Putin’s bodyguard in 1990s St Petersburg, who died after drinking tea in 2004 at a local FSB office.

2020 August 20, Luke Harding, “Alexei Navalny and the long history of poisoned Kremlin critics”, in The Guardian:

(initialism, Russia, politics, espionage, law enforcement) The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation.


industrial espionage

The American Consul at Leipzig requested the Chamber of Commerce of that city to furnish him with certain information concerning the preparation of rabbit’s skin for the hat trade. The Chamber replied that, although it was desirous of promoting the trade of Germany with foreign countries, it must, as a matter of principle, decline to furnish technical reports on German manufactures that would be likely to assist foreign competitors. The Leipziger Faerber Zeitung published the following, headed “Unfair Competition & Industrial Espionage" by the Consuls of the United States.”

1899 April 29, “What Our Consuls are Doing for American Trade”, in Scientific American, page 261:

(espionage) The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage.


dubok

Borrowed from Russian дубо́к (dubók), from дуб (dub, “oak tree”).

And then there are the duboks. Every Red Army intelligence agent abroad is assigned the task of finding duboks in the city where he is stationed. A dubok is a hiding place for anything that may be exchanged in espionage work […]

1947, Hearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan:

Meantime, in addition to the active agents, scores of others wait expectantly, always on the alert; scores of yavkas operate; scores of duboks are maintained; exchange of personnel goes on constantly.

1955, David J. Dallin, Soviet Espionage, page 509:

[…] was unable to remember the spy's cover name but he did not attach much importance to this, since, as he pointed out, cover names, like duboks, were changed from time to time.

1981, H. Montgomery Hyde, The Atom Bomb Spies, page 91:

His couriers should communicate with him through duboks – hiding places where messages could be left or collected, also called 'dead letterboxes' […]

2011, Chapman Pincher, Treachery: Betrayals, Blunders and Cover-Ups:


sheep-dip

en-verb

sheep-dip (third-person singular simple present sheep-dips, present participle sheep-dipping, simple past and past participle sheep-dipped)

sheep-dips (present singular third-person)
sheep-dipping (participle present)
sheep-dipped (participle past)
sheep-dipped (past)

(US, espionage, transitive) To formally, and usually temporarily, transfer military equipment or personnel to nonmilitary ownership for the purpose of its employment in covert action which involves less of a risk of triggering an armed conflict.


SIGINT

en-noun

SIGINT (countable and uncountable, plural SIGINTs)

(a) Intelligence.—This includes SIGINT, ELINT and their Electronic countermeasures (ECM, ECCM, ECCCM and so on).

2002, Indian Journal of Strategic Studies, volume 23, page 163:

signals intelligence
signals intelligence#English

(espionage, uncountable) Abbreviation of signals intelligence.


plausible deniability

Originally CIA jargon from the 1950s, and popularized during the Watergate scandal (1970s).

Lieut. Col. Oliver L. North may have added a memorable phrase to the lexicon of political obfuscation at the Iran-contra hearings when he referred to his concern for "plausible deniability" as he carried out his covert activities.

1987 July 16, Meyer Rangell, “Letters: Deniable Plausibility?”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-06-08:

Americans would stand out in the Laotian jungle, and Washington needed to retain plausible deniability. CIA officials demanded that Laotians on their payroll carry out the mission.

2001 June 24, Douglas C. Waller, “The Americans Left Behind”, in Time, retrieved 2015-06-08:

No longer is plausible deniability acceptable, either for boards or for management. Corporate and nonprofit boards alike are expected to know of problems that are brewing deep within their organizations.

2014 October 8, Davia Temin, “The Role Of Boards In Crisis”, in Forbes, retrieved 2015-06-08:

(politics, business, military, espionage) The organization of clandestine activity in such a way that knowledge of its existence may be denied by those in authority.


cover story

"This is just a cover story," Clay says to O5-8, not taking his eyes off Marion. "It's a good one, but she's had it worked out in advance."
"Clay, lose the piece," says the O5.
Grudgingly, Clay does so.

2008–2021, qntm, “We Need To Talk About Fifty-Five”, in There Is No Antimemetics Division, →ISBN, page 9:

(espionage) A fictitious account that is intended to hide one's real motive.


ISR

ISR (countable and uncountable, plural ISRs)

(uncountable, espionage) Initialism of intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (“spycraft”).


barium meal

The example of Oswald will show how the different operations of a dangle and a barium meal would work more efficiently together.

2017, Nancy Howell Lee, Peter Dale Scott, Bertram Gross, Forbidden Bookshelf's Resistance in America Collection:

(espionage) The deliberate release of traceable information to a suspect to see whether they leak it.


come in from the cold

en-verb

come in from the cold (third-person singular simple present comes in from the cold, present participle coming in from the cold, simple past came in from the cold, past participle come in from the cold)

comes in from the cold (present singular third-person)
coming in from the cold (participle present)
came in from the cold (past)
come in from the cold (participle past)

/ˈkʌm‿ɪn fɹəm ðə ˈkəʊld/

John le Carré
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold

Literally, the term refers to someone who is outdoors when the weather is cold coming indoors to a warm place. The idiomatic senses were popularized by the title of the novel The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963) by the British author John le Carré (1931–2020); “the Cold” is a pun on the Cold War, during which the novel is set.

I mean … one can't be out in the cold all the time; one has to come in from the cold … do you see what I mean?

1963 September, John le Carré [pseudonym; David John Moore Cornwell], “The Circus”, in The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Coward-McCann, published 1964, →OCLC, page 23:

(espionage) Of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory.

palata kotiin

of a spy: to return home after having gone undercover in enemy territory


rezident

From Russian резиде́нт (rezidént). Doublet of resiant and resident.

(espionage) The head spy in a rezidentura.


pocket litter

(espionage) Items in a spy's pocket (such as ticket stubs and coins) to make their cover seem more authentic.


intelligence asset

en-noun

intelligence asset (plural intelligence assets)

(espionage) Any resource by means of which intelligence is gathered.


ears-only

(espionage) Too secret to be put in writing; only to be transmitted orally.


wheel artist

(espionage) A specialist in outdoor surveillance in a vehicle.


pavement artist

pavement artist (plural pavement artists)

(espionage) A specialist in outdoor surveillance as a pedestrian.

jalkamies

specialist of outdoor surveillance on foot


non-official cover

non-official cover (plural non-official covers)

(espionage) The assumption of a covert role in an organization which does not have ties to the government of the operative in question.


burn notice

(espionage) An announcement of dismissal of an agent or source which an intelligence agency considers to have become unreliable.


eyes-only

(espionage, of documents) Meant to be read only, and not discussed, by the named recipient; classified.


live drop

(espionage) A location where two people meet to exchange items or information.

postilaatikko

location used to exchange items or information


official cover

(espionage) A cover which is a position at a governmental agency (e.g. posing as a member of the diplomatic service).


dead drop

(espionage) A location used to secretly transfer items between two people, without requiring them to meet.

dode brievenbus

location used to pass items between two people in secret

тайни́к

e,g, шпио́нский

(espionage) The act of leaving an item in such a location for another person to collect.


numbers station

numbers station (plural numbers stations)

(radio, espionage) A shortwave radio station characterized by unusual broadcasts, often of artificially generated voices reciting streams of numbers, words, etc., supposedly coded messages.


false flag

Using what the bureau calls a "False Flag" operation, F.B.I. agents posing as Russian intelligence officers contacted Mr. Pitts in August 1995, long after it believed he had ceased his spying activities, and feigned interest in reactivating him as a means of confirming his spying activities and determining how much information he may have provided to Moscow.

1996 December, David Johnston, “F.B.I. Supervisor Charged With Spying for Russians”, in The New York Times:

Now, that is not just offensive, it’s stupid. If the government had actually hired child actors, there is no way their stage parents would have stopped talking about it. “Well, he didn’t get the Tide commercial, but he did book a leading role in a government-sponsored false-flag attack! It’s the same director who did the moon landing! We’re very excited!”

2017, Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Ben Silva, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Seena Vali, Julie Weiner, “Trump vs. Truth”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 4, episode 1, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:

The US has made noncommittal statements so far. Meanwhile, many experts on Russia have raised the possibility that the strike could have been a false-flag operation from Moscow.

2023 May 4, Jonathan Yerushalmy, Pjotr Sauer, “False flag or genuine attack? What we know about the Kremlin drone incident”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

(espionage, military, politics) A diversionary or propaganda tactic of deceiving an adversary into thinking that an operation was carried out by another party.


molehunt

(espionage) An investigation attempting to identify moles (agents who have infiltrated an organisation).


molehunter

In the late 1960s here, in a room booked for the occasion, molehunter Peter Wright made 'one more try' at breaking Alister Watson, the defence scientist believed to have given secrets to the Soviets for decades.

1994, Roy Berkeley, A Spy's London, page 306:

(espionage) One who investigates and attempts to identify a mole (agent who has infiltrated an organisation).


AGI

AGI (countable and uncountable, plural AGIs)

(espionage) Initialism of auxiliary gathering intelligence.


ELINT

ELINT (countable and uncountable, plural ELINTs)

electronic intelligence
electronic intelligence#English

(espionage) Abbreviation of electronic intelligence.


SOCMINT

social media intelligence
social media intelligence#English

(espionage) Acronym of social media intelligence.


INT

INT (countable and uncountable, plural INTs)

(espionage) Abbreviation of intelligence.


social media intelligence

(espionage) Intelligence gathered from social media.


cover name

By the time that he landed in New York early in June, 1915, Sir Edgar Speyer had good cause to be well aware that the Government was strongly opposed to any communication, direct or indirect, with enemy country and to all attempts to evade the censorship of letters and cables, whether by the use of code words or cover names;

1922, UK Parliament, Report […] in the Case of Sir Edgar Speyer, London, p. 7

1941, Richard Krebs (as Jan Valtin), Out of the Night, New York: Alliance Book Corporation, Chapter 31, p. 493,
The map of Germany was in my head—its cities, rivers, railroad schedules. I memorized a long string of names and cover names […]

[…] his headquarters were located, under a cover name, at the air terminal.

1962, Philip K. Dick, chapter 8, in The Man in the High Castle, New York: Ace Books, published 1988, page 113:

‘That’s a new one for us, isn’t it, Toby? A spy using his own name as a covername? I mean why bother any more? You’re Toby, so we’ll keep it a secret and call you Toby instead. Great.’

1990, John Le Carré, The Secret Pilgrim, Toronto: Pengin, published 1991, page 150:

(espionage, military) A name used to clandestinely identify somebody or something for confidentiality.


black radio

(espionage) Radio broadcasting propaganda whose source and motivation are covert.


white radio

(espionage) Radio broadcasting propaganda whose source and motivation are apparent.


country team

(chiefly US, espionage) A group of people in charge of a state's intelligence operations in a foreign country, typically led by an ambassador.


TELINT

(espionage) Initialism of telemetry intelligence.


FISINT

(espionage) Initialism of foreign instrumentation signals intelligence.


COMINT

Blend of communications + intelligence. Compare HUMINT etc.

communications intelligence
communications intelligence#English

(espionage) Abbreviation of communications intelligence.


scalphunter

There is one class of spook we have not encountered as yet. This is the scalp-hunter, or defector-hunter. Quite often a scalp-hunter will be more valuable than almost any other intelligence operator.

1982, Richard Deacon, With My Little Eye: The Memoirs of a Spy-Hunter, page 103:

But agency policy is that the case officer is, in the jargon, a "scalp hunter" who must turn a contact into an agent […]

2002, Angelo Codevilla, Informing Statecraft, page 82:

(espionage) An agent who vets potential defectors.


Funkspiel

From German Funkspiel; originally the name of a Nazi counterintelligence operation during World War II.

After a few months of Funkspiel, Giskes' bag was impressive: fifty-three agents taken prisoner immediately on arrival from England; […]

1969, Gilles Perrault, The Red Orchestra, page 147:

At the same time, Gehlen began to score successes with one of his other specialities, his own form of Funkspiel, […]

1981, Anthony Read, David Fisher, Operation Lucy: most secret spy ring of the Second World War:

Used the Russian version of funkspiel to do it, too.

2009, Dan Speers, Master Spies Die Laughing, page 93:

(espionage) The practice of sending deceptive information to the enemy by means of their official channels that have been subverted.


flaps and seals

(espionage) The covert interception and examination of postal mail.


IMINT

imagery intelligence
w:imagery intelligence

(espionage) Abbreviation of imagery intelligence.


OSINT

(espionage) Acronym of open-source intelligence.


contract agent

(espionage) A secret agent recruited by another agent, and having no direct contact with the agency.


rezidentura

Borrowed from Russian резиденту́ра (rezidentúra).

bor+

резиденту́ра

(espionage) A base of Russian espionage operations within a foreign country.


defector-in-place

(espionage) A person who defects to a foreign power but remains in their home country so as to gather information etc.


denied area

(US, espionage) An extremely hostile operational environment with heavy surveillance.


SVR

From Russian СВР (SVR), initialism of Служба Внешней Разведки (Služba Vnešnej Razvedki, “Foreign Intelligence Service”).

international relations
international relations

(initialism, Russia, politics, espionage, international relations) The civilian external intelligence directorate of Russia

СВР

Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki, Foreign Intelligence Service


NROL

(US, government, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of National Reconnaissance Office launch.. An NRO spacelaunch for delivering a high security government payload into space.


NSSL

Coordinate term: EELV

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of National Security Space Launch program.; a U.S. government program for assured access to space


NSSL

national security
national security#English

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of national security spacelaunch.; a high security spacelaunch of U.S. government payloads, such as spy satellites


EELV

Coordinate term: NSSL

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.; a U.S. government program for assured access to space


EELV

(US, politics, military, espionage, aerospace) Initialism of evolved expendable launch vehicle.; a rocket developed under the EELV government program


green door

While this cannot be done in all cases, no commander should accept the notion that whole blocks of intelligence are permanently behind a special “green door” until his intelligence officer has carefully examined the regulations.

1976, Michael T. Chase, “All-Source Intelligence”, in Military Review: Professional Journal of the U.S. Army, volume LVI, number 7, page 45:

The so-called “green door”, behind which intelligence is alleged to hoard its secrets has always been, and forever will be, a problem. […] Arranging for dissemination of a specific, known product is relatively easy—it’s the products you don’t know about that the green door hides.

1995, Douglas H. Dearth, R. Thomas Goodden, Strategic Intelligence: Theory and Application, second edition, page 66-67:

The NSA is the opposite of the NGA in that the controlled serendipity of its collection-management processes is hidden not only from those beyond the “green door” but from many intelligence community insiders as well.

2005, editors Burton Gerber, Jennifer E. Sims, Transforming U.S. Intelligence, page 151:

This information on how the enemy conducted fighter operations came to the Aggressors from many sources behind the “green door” of the US intelligence gathering and interpreting community.

2012, Gaillard R. Peck, Jr, America’s Secret MiG Squadron: The Red Eagles of Project CONSTANT PEG:

(espionage) The barrier between compartmentalized intelligence information and those without access to it, especially military personnel who may need it.


JWICS

(US, military, espionage) Acronym of Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System.


limited hangout

en-noun

limited hangout (plural limited hangouts)

(politics, espionage) The practice of revealing only part of the truth about a situation, as damage control when a cover story can no longer be used.


signals intelligence

(espionage) Information gained from intercepted signals, including traffic analysis.


electronic intelligence

(espionage) Intelligence-gathering by use of electronic sensors.


human intelligence

(espionage) Intelligence-gathering by means of human sources and interpersonal communication.


communications intelligence

signals intelligence
signals intelligence

(espionage) A subcategory of signals intelligence that engages in dealing with messages or voice information derived from the interception of foreign communications.


intelligence-gathering

(espionage) The process of collecting information in order to gain knowledge about a situation or adversary, often performed clandestinely.