surveillance
Americannoun
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a watch kept over a person, group, etc., especially over a suspect, prisoner, or the like.
The suspects were under police surveillance.
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continuous observation of a place, person, group, or ongoing activity in order to gather information.
video cameras used for covert surveillance.
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attentive observation, as to oversee and direct someone or something.
increased surveillance of patients with chronic liver disease.
noun
Other Word Forms
- countersurveillance noun
- surveillant adjective
Etymology
Origin of surveillance
1790–1800; < French, equivalent to surveill ( er ) to watch over ( sur- sur- 1 + veiller < Latin vigilāre to watch; vigil ) + -ance -ance
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The law has been challenged in the Supreme Court by petitioners who argue it violates the rights to information and free speech and could be misused for surveillance.
From BBC
Anthropic opposes its AI systems being used for mass surveillance or fully autonomous weapons without human intervention.
From Barron's
He secured his rule at home by building fierce loyalty among those who supported him, and a pervasive surveillance state to suppress those who didn’t.
Inside he found a hidden camera feeding a vast surveillance network that logs the license plate of every driver passing through this stretch of remote backcountry between San Diego and the Arizona state line.
From Los Angeles Times
Roughly half of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s surveillance databases have gone dark, while some U.S. health data has disappeared entirely.
From Salon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
