See Also: creep(1)(dictionary)
creep(medicine)
creep(encyclopedia)
creep(2)(dictionary)
mission creep(dictionary)
creep 2, noun(dictionary)
creep 1, verb(dictionary)
Creep - Skydiving(gambling)
Bracket creep(finance)
Margin Creep(money)

creep(2) (iou)



creep verb. .
[Old English creopan = Old Frisian kriapa, Old Saxon criopan, Old Norse krjupa, from Germanic.]
I. verb intrans.
Move dragging the body close to the ground, as a person on all fours, a short-limbed reptile or quadruped, (formerly) a snake, worm, or other limbless creature, etc. Cf. CRAWL verb 1. OE.
creep to the Cross advance towards the crucifix on one's knees or prone, in the Roman Catholic service on Good Friday.
T. Herbert Land Tortoyses so great that they will creepe with two mens burthens. Day Lewis A hole in the hedge..through which I must creep if I was to play with the neighbour's children.
Move timidly, slowly, softly, or stealthily. ME.
Shakespeare As You Like It The whining school-boy..creeping like snail Unwillingly to school. J. G. Whittier The mists crept upwards. B. Pym She grew cold at last and crept back to bed.
fig. Advance by imperceptible degrees, develop gradually; insinuate oneself into; come in, up, etc., unobserved. ME.
B. Jowett The licence of which you speak very easily creeps in. E. Welty A sudden alert, tantalized look would creep over the little man's face.
b. Proceed or exist abjectly; behave timidly, diffidently, or unambitiously. L16.
Pope Wit that can creep, and Pride that licks the dust.
(Of a plant) spread over or along a surface with extending stems or branches; extend like a creeping plant. LME.
gill-creep-by-ground: see GILL noun1.
A. P. Stanley Vineyards creep along the ancient terraces.
Of a person: shiver or shudder with dread, revulsion, etc.; feel as if things were creeping over one's skin. Of the flesh or skin: feel as if things were creeping over it, through dread, revulsion, etc. LME.
make a person's flesh creep: see FLESH noun.
Drag a river, the seabed, etc., with a creeper. L18.
Of a mine floor, soil, metal, etc.: undergo creep (see CREEP noun 2). M19.
Of a liquid: cover a surface as a thin film. L19.
Commit robbery with stealth. slang. E20.
II. verb trans.
Advance towards (the Cross) on one's knees or prone. L15-L16.
Creep along or over. rare. M17.
Foll. by in: introduce or increase gradually or imperceptibly. M20.
Comb.: creep-hole a hole through which a person creeps; a hole into which an animal etc. creeps; creep-joint US slang (a) a gambling game that shifts location each night; (b) a brothel or other seedy place of resort, esp. where patrons are robbed; creep-mouse noun & adjective (a) noun pretending to be a mouse in playing with a small child; (b) adjective furtive, timid, shy.
creepage noun gradual movement; spec. leakage of electricity: E20.