Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

θ	thin	ð	this	ʃ	she	ʒ	measure
tʃ	church	dʒ	judge	ŋ	sing	j	yes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

-s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
-ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
-ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

“eavesdropping” is a form of

eavesdrop

UK /ˈiːvzˌdɹɒp/ · US /ˈivzˌdɹɑp/ verb, noun

Forms eavesdrops eavesdropping eavesdropped

verb (ambitransitive) To hear (intentionally) a conversation one is not intended to hear; to listen in. “I hope nobody was eavesdropping on our conversation last night, since it got so personal.”
verb (zoology) To listen for another organism's calls, so as to exploit them.
noun The dripping of rain from the eaves of a house.
noun The space around a house on which such water drips.
noun (countable) A concealed aperture through which an occupant of a building can surreptitiously listen to people talking at an entrance to the building.
noun (countable) The act of intentionally hearing a conversation not intended to be heard. “Were you having a little eavesdrop on us last night?”

Synonyms

From eaves + drop; the "listening" sense derives from the notion of the listener standing in the area denoted by the physical sense.

verb To stand under the eaves, near a window or at the door, of a house, to listen and learn what is said within doors; hence, to listen secretly to what is said in private.
noun The water which falls in drops from the eaves of a house.

Etymology [Eaves + drop.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “eavesdrop”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details