private eye

English

Etymology

From private investigator and its abbreviation P.I., through the homophonic term eye in place of "I", and the use of "eye" as a reference to surveillance.

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

private eye (plural private eyes)

1. (idiomatic) A private personal detective, employed to gather information about someone.

Synonyms

• private investigator
• PI

Translations

A private personal detective

• Czech: soukromé očko n, soukromý detektiv m
• Finnish: yksityisetsivä (fi)
• German: Privatdetektiv m, Schnüffler (de) m
• Swedish: privatdeckare (sv) c