See Also: sneak(dictionary)
Sneak - Poker(gambling)
sneak 1, verb(dictionary)
sneak 2, noun(dictionary)
sneak 3, adjective(dictionary)
sneak preview(dictionary)

sneak (iou)



sneak verb, noun, & adjective. [sni:k] L16.
[Perh. rel. to SNIKE: cf. earlier SNEAKISHLY.]
A. verb. Pa. t. & pple sneaked, (chiefly US) snuck .
I. verb intrans.
Move or go stealthily; creep or steal furtively; slink. Freq. with adverb (phr.). L16.
F. Astaire I decided to sneak off to Paris for a few days without letting anyone know. R. Macdonald We sneaked down the trail into the canyon. The man didn't see us. East (Tokyo) A burglar snuck in through the window. J. May I still can't figure how anything that big could have snuck up on me unawares.
b. Make off quietly. US colloq. L19.
Cringe or be servile to (a person). M17.
Tell tales, turn informer. School slang. L19.
D. Welch Sneaking to one of the masters about a big boy's misdemeanour.
II. verb trans.
Move, place, or convey (a person or thing) stealthily. With adverb (or adverbial phr.). M17.
B. Bainbridge She wondered if she could sneak him upstairs without Freda knowing.
Steal or make off with (a thing) stealthily or unobserved; take or partake of surreptitiously. L19.
J. K. Jerome Somebody must have sneaked it, and run off with it. R. Frame The specimens..are excellent (I sneaked a look one morning).
b. noun.
A mean-spirited cowardly person; a person who acts in a shifty or underhand manner. Also spec., an informer, a tell-tale. M17.
The action or an act of sneaking; a stealthy movement, a furtive expedition or departure, orig. spec. for the purpose of committing theft; a theft committed in this way. L17.
b. A furtive thief; a person who enters a place furtively to commit theft. L18.
Cricket. A daisy-cutter. M19.
= SNEAKER 4. slang. M19.
ellipt. A sneak preview. US colloq. M20.
Amer. Football. = quarterback sneak s.v. QUARTERBACK noun. L20.
Phrases: on the sneak, upon the sneak on the sly, by stealth.
C. attrib. or as adjective. Acting or done by stealth, deceit, or surprise; unexpected. L17.
Comb. & special collocations: sneak-boat US a boat which can readily move or approach unobserved, esp. a sneak-box; sneak-box US a small flat shallow boat masked with brush or weeds, used in wildfowl shooting; sneak-cup (rare, Shakes.) = sneak-up below; sneak-current Telephony a current slightly in excess of normal due to leakage but insufficient to blow a fuse; sneak-guest: who makes public the events of private social gatherings; sneak-hunting hunting from an unobserved approach; sneak preview (orig. US) (a) a screening of a film before public release to test audience reaction; (b) an unofficial preview; sneak-preview verb trans. (orig. US) have or show a sneak preview of (a film etc.); sneaksman slang a petty thief, a sneak-thief; sneak-thief a thief who steals without breaking in; a pickpocket; sneak-thievery the occupation of a sneak-thief; sneak-up a mean, servile, or cringing person; a sneak.