1. A constant observation of a person, or a group; especially, anyone who is suspected of doing something illegal or thought to be a potential miscreant: There are now several U.S. government agencies that provide surveillances of suspected terrorists.
2. The act of keeping a careful eye someone or something in order to detect or to prevent any kind of felonious act or to provide evidence of such actions: The surveillances provided by the bank's video cameras helped to identify the bank robbers.

Electronic surveillances are being utilized by more cities around the world in order to apprehend lawbreakers who are involved in illegal activities.

3. Etymology: from French surveillance, "oversight, supervision, a watch"; a noun of action from surveiller, "oversee, watch"; from sur-, "over" + veiller, "to watch" from Latin vigilare, from vigil, "watchful, awake, wakeful". © ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.
© ALL rights are reserved.

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Any of various military techniques that involve the use of sound-detection devices to obtain information for intelligence purposes: The members of the intelligence team of the national army used special equipment for acoustical surveillances in order to detect underground tunnels and shafts which the revolutionaries might have been using.

Simple electronic tags that can be turned on or off to indicate check-out or check-in status of products: When an item is purchased (or borrowed from a library), the electronic article surveillance is turned off.

When someone passes a gate, or door, of a place holding an item with an electronic article surveillance that hasn't been turned off, an alarm sounds.

The gathering of information by the surreptitious (secret) use of electronic devices; such as, cameras placed in train stations or in banks, etc. in order to record criminal activities or espionage: More cities around the world are using electronic surveillances in order to gather evidence of a crime or to accumulate intelligence about suspected criminal activities.

Corporations use electronic surveillance to maintain the security of their buildings and grounds.

Electronic surveillance permeates almost every aspect of life in the United States; for example, in the public sector, the president, Congress, judiciary, military, and law enforcement all use some form of this technology.

In the private sector, business competitors, convenience stores, shopping centers, apartment buildings, parking facilities, hospitals, banks, employers, and even spouses have utilized various methods of electronic surveillances.