Past tense of 'eavesdrop,' meaning secretly listened to someone's private conversation.
From 'eavesdrop' (from eaves + drop), with the regular past tense '-ed' suffix. The original literal meaning involved standing under roof eaves where water dripped.
Because eavesdropping was such a recognizable crime in old England, it became one of the words we conjugate most in spy stories and crime novels — eavesdropped, eavesdropping, eavesdropper.
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