Plural of counterspy; agents or spies who work to detect and stop enemy spying activities.
Combines 'counter-' with 'spies' (plural of spy). 'Spy' comes from Old French 'espier' meaning 'to watch,' ultimately from Germanic roots. The compound emerged in espionage terminology, particularly during the Cold War era.
The CIA's counterintelligence division employs counterspies whose job is essentially catching other spies—they're so secretive that many famous counterspies were only revealed decades after their retirement, like Kim Philby's double-agent hunters.
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