espy

To find out or observe (someone or something, especially if not easy to see) by spying or looking; to catch sight of; to see; to spot.

to espy land    to espy a man in a crowd

No wyse man entreth in to a gardein but he sone espiethe good herbes from nettiles, and treadeth the nettiles under his feete whiles he gadreth good herbes.

To see (someone or something) without foreplanning or unexpectedly.

[…] I chaunced to eſpie thys foraſyde Peter talkynge wyth a certeyne ſtraunger a man well ſtryken in age wyth a blake sonne burned face, a longe bearde and a cloke catſe homely about hys ſhoulders, whom by hys fauour & apparrel forthwythe I iudged to be a maryner.

Come on my Lords the better foot before, / Straight vvill I bring you to the lothſome pit, / VVhere I eſpied the Panther faſt a ſleepe.

To observe (someone or something) as a spy; also, to examine or observe (someone or something) carefully; or to look out or watch for.

Remember the subtyle worldly wyse Counsellours of Hāmon, the sonne of Naas, king of the Amonites, which when Dauid had sent hys seruauntes to comfort the yong kyng, for the death of hys father, by craftye imaginacions counselled Hāmon not alonely not to receiue them gently, but to entreate them most shamefullye and cruellye, sayinge that they came not to comforte hym, but to espye and search hys lande, so that afterward they brynging Dauid woorde howe euerye thynge stoode, Dauid myghte come and conquer it.

Novv queſtion me no more vve are eſpied, / Here comes a parcell of our hopefull bootie, / VVhich dreads not yet their liues deſtruction.

To become aware of (a fact, information, etc.).

If being the Commander of an army, thou eſpieſt a groſſe and manifeſt error in thine Enemy, look vvell to thy ſelfe, for treachery is not farre off: Hee vvhom deſire of victory binds too much, is apt to ſtumble at his ovvne Ruine.

VVhat faults ſoever Thou eſpieſt here, / Fall to, and make thee merry vvith the Cheer.

To observe as a spy, to spy; also, to examine or observe carefully; or to look out or watch.

O inhabitant of Aroer, ſtand by the way, and eſpie; aſke him that fleeth, and her that eſcapeth, and ſay, VVhat is done?

[H]eedful be his eye, / And firm his step, who on the dark edge [of a peak] stands / Beneath the cloud, and downward dares espy.

An act of finding out or observing by spying or looking; an espial or espying.

Howe the right and lawes of the land / Were execute, and who durſt take in hand / To diſobey his ſtatutes and decrees, / If they were well kept in all countrees: / Of theſe he made ſubtile inueſtigation / Of his owne eſpie, and other mens relation.

When as the Eagle, Ioves great bird, did ſee her enemy, / Sharpe warre in th' ayre with beake ſhe did prepare / Gainſt Serpent feeding in the wood, after eſpy / Cauſe it her egges and young fiercely in peeces tare.

A scout or spy.

Hobomak as confidently aſſured vs it was falſe, and ſent his vvife as an eſpy to ſee; […]

The act or process of learning secret information through clandestine means; espionage.

A surname.

A census-designated place in Columbia County, Pennsylvania, United States.