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counterespionage

counterespionage

1 8.0
Actions to find and stop enemy spies
  • noun
  • /ˌkaʊntərˈɛspiəˌnɑːʒ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : contraespionaje
  • During the Cold War, counterespionage was crucial in preventing enemy nations from stealing military secrets.

Examples

  • "You're not afraid of counterespionage?" Dominion's eyes narrowed; his head tilted slightly.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Our counterespionage said… Polakov would come to Moscow to make contact with a high Soviet official… willing to give information to the west.

  • I was wondering if you might help me in the counterespionage...

  • Um, my training and education, um, has been in the areas of counterespionage and counterterrorism.

  • Kosnov is only interested in making counterespionage easy?

  • Complete knowledge of enemy agents and their locations… makes all counterespionage work much more easy.

  • As you know, the real Thomas, Christiansen and Berkeley while working for British counterespionage were responsible for setting up an excellent chain of agents throughout Britain.

  • For a brief, shining moment in Reagan, a restoration of the FBI and CIA's counterespionage and anti-subversive activities seemed possible, but the Democrats retained control of Congress and the structural changes were too far along.

    Blog text (12)
  • The government implemented strict counterespionage measures to protect national security.

  • Effective counterespionage strategies helped the agency to thwart several attempts by foreign spies.

Synonyms

counterintelligence
vscounterespionage
  • Specialized
38 7.4

Activities to find and stop enemy spies and sabotage

focuses only on finding and thwarting enemy spies rather than wider hostile acts

Antonyms

espionage
  • Specialized
108 7.3

Secret spying to get information for a government or company

Surface Forms

Morphology

counterespionage = espionage (transparent) = counter + espionage

Meaning follows directly from the productive prefix 'counter-' (against) combined with the noun 'espionage' (spying), yielding actions or measures against spying.

Etymology

Counterespionage combines counter- and espionage; counter- means 'against', as in counterattack, and espionage comes from a word for 'spy'. So counterespionage is the work of acting 'against' spies, finding and stopping them.