When we say that someone was or are eves dropping it is meant to infer that they are listening in on a private conversation when they should not be.
This can be traced back to the age before the invention of the rain gutter where they used eves to carry rainwater away from their homes and other buildings. Eves were an extension of the roof and if someone was standing under the eves they could hear conversations in the home through an open window or through thin walls before insulation was invented. If they were in fact listening to the conversations inside the home they were eves dropping.
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