creep

[kreep] /krip/
verb (used without object), crept, creeping.
1.
to move slowly with the body close to the ground, as a reptile or an insect, or a person on hands and knees.
2.
to approach slowly, imperceptibly, or stealthily (often followed by up):
We crept up and peeked over the wall.
3.
to move or advance slowly or gradually:
The automobile crept up the hill. Time just seems to creep along on these hot summer days.
4.
to sneak up behind someone or without someone's knowledge (usually followed by up on):
The prisoners crept up on the guard and knocked him out.
5.
to enter or become evident inconspicuously, gradually, or insidiously (often followed by in or into:) The writer's personal bias occasionally creeps into the account.
6.
to move or behave timidly or servilely.
7.
to grow along the ground, a wall, etc., as a plant.
8.
to advance or develop gradually so as to infringe on or supplant something else.
9.
Slang.
  1. to flirt with or make persistent sexual advances toward someone (often followed by on):
    He creeps on all the women he meets.
  2. to cheat on one’s sexual partner:
    He caught his wife creepin' with the guy who lives next-door.
10.
Slang. to follow someone persistently or stealthily, as on a social-networking website (often followed by on):
He spends a lot of time creeping on her Facebook profile.
11.
Slang. to suddenly intrude into someone’s photograph as it is being taken:
Who’s that creeping in the background of the picture?
12.
to slip, slide, or shift gradually; become displaced.
13.
(of a metal object) to become deformed, as under continuous loads or at high temperatures.
14.
Nautical. to grapple (usually followed by for):
The ships crept for their anchor chains.
verb (used with object), crept, creeping.
15.
Slang. to follow persistently or stealthily, especially online:
I’ve been creeping her blog and found some great recipes.
16.
Archaic. to creep along or over.
noun
17.
an act or instance of creeping:
It seems as if time has slowed to a creep.
18.
Slang. a boring, disturbingly eccentric, painfully introverted, or obnoxious person.
19.
Slang. an intelligence or counterintelligence agent; spy.
20.
Slang. creeper (def 9).
21.
a gradual or inconspicuous increase, advance, change, or development: Avoid jargon creep in your writing.
We are seeing the steady creep of consumerism.
22.
Geology.
  1. the gradual movement downhill of loose soil, rock, gravel, etc.; solifluction.
  2. the slow deformation of solid rock resulting from constant stress applied over long periods.
23.
Mechanics. the gradual, permanent deformation of a body produced by a continued application of heat or stress.
24.
a grappling iron; grapnel.
25.
Firearms. the slack in a trigger mechanism before it releases the firing pin.
26.
creep feeder.
27.
the creeps, Informal. a sensation of horror, fear, disgust, etc., suggestive of the feeling induced by something crawling over the skin:
That horror movie gave me the creeps.
Idioms
28.
make one's flesh creep, to be frightening or repellent; cause one to experience uneasiness:
The eerie stories made our flesh creep.
Origin
before 900; Middle English crepen, Old English crēopan; cognate with Dutch kruipen, Old Norse krjūpa
Related forms
creepingly, adverb
noncreeping, adjective
outcreep, verb (used with object), outcrept, outcreeping.
uncreeping, adjective
Synonyms
1. See crawl1 . 3. inch, crawl, dawdle, poke.
Examples from the web for creep
  • While many bats can only creep awkwardly on the ground, for example, vampire bats can actually gallop.
  • We circled around to the top of the plateau, hoping to creep up on the animals from above.
  • There are three mechanisms that move the snow: creep, saltation, and suspension.
  • Most scientist can't manage and mission creep is the biggest problem.
  • Nonetheless, that grayness has begun to creep over her again.
  • Faces turned upward, so that their nostrils are out of water, they creep toward the land at the same rate as the tide.
  • Where there is overspill, there will be mission creep.
  • Hashtags have also undergone mission creep, and now do all sorts of interesting things.
  • He would watch the daylight wax and wane on the ceiling, or roaches creep slowly up the wall.
  • The anciently reported spells of these places creep on us.
British Dictionary definitions for creep

creep

/kriːp/
verb (intransitive) creeps, creeping, crept
1.
to crawl with the body near to or touching the ground
2.
to move slowly, quietly, or cautiously
3.
to act in a servile way; fawn; cringe
4.
to move or slip out of place, as from pressure or wear
5.
(of plants) to grow along the ground or over rocks, producing roots, suckers, or tendrils at intervals
6.
(of a body or substance) to become permanently deformed as a result of an applied stress, often when combined with heating
7.
to develop gradually: creeping unrest
8.
to have the sensation of something crawling over the skin
9.
(of metals) to undergo slow plastic deformation
noun
10.
the act of creeping or a creeping movement
11.
(slang) a person considered to be obnoxious or servile
12.
the continuous permanent deformation of a body or substance as a result of stress or heat
13.
(geology) the gradual downwards movement of loose rock material, soil, etc, on a slope
14.
a slow relative movement of two adjacent parts, structural components, etc
15.
slow plastic deformation of metals
See also creeps
Word Origin
Old English crēopan; related to Old Frisian kriāpa, Old Norse krjūpa, Middle Low German krūpen
Word Origin and History for creep
v.

Old English creopan "to creep" (class II strong verb; past tense creap, past participle cropen), from Proto-Germanic *kreupanan (cf. Old Frisian kriapa, Middle Dutch crupen, Old Norse krjupa "to creep"), from PIE root *greug-. Related: Crept; creeping.

n.

"a creeping motion," 1818, from creep (v.). Meaning "despicable person" is 1935, American English slang, perhaps from earlier sense of "sneak thief" (1914). Creeper "a gilded rascal" is recorded from c.1600, and the word also was used of certain classes of thieves, especially those who robbed customers in brothels. The creeps "a feeling of dread or revulsion" first attested 1849, in Dickens.

Slang definitions & phrases for creep

creep

noun

A disgusting and obnoxious person; crud, jerk, nerd •An isolated 1886 use seems to refer specifically to a cringing sycophant rather than a generally repulsive person: The man is nothing but a creep/ poets loyal to Blake and Whitman, the ''holy creeps''/ How to spend our money on making some creepo more creative in the growing world of weirdness

[first form 1930s+ students, second 1950s+; origin uncertain; perhaps fr one who makes one's flesh creep;perhaps generalized fr one who cringes and curries favor]


Related Abbreviations for creep

CREEP

Committee to Reelect the President
Idioms and Phrases with creep

creep

In addition to the idiom beginning with
creep
also see: