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Webster 1913 Edition

Creep

Creep

(krēp)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Crept
(krĕpt)
(
Crope
(krōp)
,
Obs
.);
p. p.
Crept
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Creeping
.]
[OE.
crepen
,
creopen
, AS.
creópan
; akin to D.
kruipen
, G.
kriechen
, Icel.
krjupa
, Sw.
krypa
, Dan.
krybe
. Cf.
Cripple
,
Crouch
.]
1.
To move along the ground, or on any other surface, on the belly, as a worm or reptile; to move as a child on the hands and knees; to crawl.
Ye that walk
The earth, and stately tread, or lowly
creep
.
Milton.
2.
To move slowly, feebly, or timorously, as from unwillingness, fear, or weakness.
The whining schoolboy . . .
creeping
, like snail,
Unwillingly to school.
Shakespeare
Like a guilty thing, I
creep
.
Tennyson.
3.
To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or one’s self;
as, age
creeps
upon us
.
The sophistry which
creeps
into most of the books of argument.
Locke.
Of this sort are they which
creep
into houses, and lead captive silly women.
2. Tim. iii. 6.
4.
To slip, or to become slightly displaced;
as, the collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may
creep
in drying; the quicksilver on a mirror may
creep
.
5.
To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn;
as, a
creeping
sycophant
.
To come as humbly as they used to
creep
.
Shakespeare
6.
To grow, as a vine, clinging to the ground or to some other support by means of roots or rootlets, or by tendrils, along its length.
“Creeping vines.”
Dryden.
7.
To have a sensation as of insects creeping on the skin of the body; to crawl;
as, the sight made my flesh
creep
. See
Crawl
,
Verb.
I.
, 4.
8.
To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.

Creep

,
Noun.
1.
The act or process of creeping.
2.
A distressing sensation, or sound, like that occasioned by the creeping of insects.
A
creep
of undefinable horror.
Blackwood's Mag.
Out of the stillness, with gathering
creep
,
Like rising wind in leaves.
Lowell.
3.
(Mining)
A slow rising of the floor of a gallery, occasioned by the pressure of incumbent strata upon the pillars or sides; a gradual movement of mining ground.

Webster 1828 Edition

Creep

CREEP

,
Verb.
I.
[Gr., the sense is to catch, to grapple; L., to scrape or scratch.]
1.
To move with the belly on the ground, or the surface of any other body, as a worm or serpent without legs, or as many insects with feet and very short legs; to crawl.
2.
To move along the ground, or on the surface of any other body, in growth, as a vine; to grow along.
3.
To move slowly, feebly or timorously; as an old or infirm man, who creeps about his chamber.
4.
To move slowly and insensibly, as time.
To morrow, and to morrow, and to morrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day.
5.
To move secretly; to move so as to escape detection, or prevent suspicion.
Of this sort are they who creep into houses, and lead away captive silly women. 2 Timothy 3.
6.
To steal in; to move forward unheard and unseen; to come or enter unexpectedly or unobserved; as, some error has crept into the copy of a history.
7.
To move or behave with servility; to fawn.

Definition 2024

creep

creep

See also: CREEP

English

Verb

creep ‎(third-person singular simple present creeps, present participle creeping, simple past crept or creeped or (obsolete) crope, past participle crept or creeped or (archaic) cropen)

  1. (intransitive) To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.
    Lizards and snakes crept over the ground.
    • 1922, Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
      One evening, while the Rabbit was lying there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in the grass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken near him.
  2. (intransitive) Of plants, to grow across a surface rather than upwards.
  3. (intransitive) To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction.
    He tried to creep past the guard without being seen.
  4. (intransitive) To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction.
    Prices have been creeping up all year.
  5. To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or oneself.
    Old age creeps upon us.
    • John Locke
      the sophistry which creeps into most of the books of argument
  6. To slip, or to become slightly displaced.
    The collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may creep in drying.
    The quicksilver on a mirror may creep.
  7. To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn.
    a creeping sycophant
    • Shakespeare
      to come as humbly as they used to creep
  8. To have a sensation as of insects creeping on the skin of the body; to crawl.
    The sight made my flesh creep.
  9. To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.
Synonyms
  • (move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground): crawl
  • (grow across a surface rather than upwards):
  • (move slowly and quietly in a particular direction):
  • (make small gradual changes):
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

From the above verb.

Noun

creep ‎(plural creeps)

  1. The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails)
  2. A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure.
  3. A slight displacement of an object: the slight movement of something
  4. The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively.
    Christmas creep. Feature creep. Instruction creep. Mission creep
  5. (publishing) In sewn books, the tendency of pages on the inside of a quire to stand out farther than those on the outside of it.
  6. (materials science) An increase in strain with time; the gradual flow or deformation of a material under stress.
  7. (geology) The imperceptible downslope movement of surface rock.
  8. (informal, pejorative) someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric
  9. (informal, pejorative) A frightening and/or disconcerting person, especially one who gives the speaker chills or who induces psychosomatic facial itching.
    Stop following me, you creep!
  10. (agriculture) A barrier with small openings used to keep large animals out while allowing smaller animals to pass through.
Derived terms
Translations

Anagrams

Etymology

From Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan ‎(“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-Germanic *kreupaną ‎(“to twist, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‎(“to turn, wind”). Cognate with West Frisian krippe, krûpe, West Frisian crjippa ‎(“to creep”), Low German krepen and krupen, Dutch kruipen ‎(“to creep, crawl”), Middle High German kriefen ‎(“to creep”), Danish krybe ‎(“to creep”), Norwegian krype ‎(“to creep”), Swedish krypa ‎(“to creep, crawl”), Icelandic krjúpa ‎(“to stoop”).

Pronunciation

  • enPR: krēp, IPA(key): /kɹiːp/
  • Rhymes: -iːp

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