Creep definitions

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CREEP, v.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.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric [syn: creep, weirdo, weirdie, weirdy, spook]
2: a slow longitudinal movement or deformation
3: a pen that is fenced so that young animals can enter but adults cannot
4: a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body; "a crawl was all that the injured man could manage"; "the traffic moved at a creep" [syn: crawl, crawling, creep, creeping] v
1: move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground; "The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed" [syn: crawl, creep]
2: to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house" [syn: sneak, mouse, creep, pussyfoot]
3: grow or spread, often in such a way as to cover (a surface); "ivy crept over the walls of the university buildings"
4: show submission or fear [syn: fawn, crawl, creep, cringe, cower, grovel]

Merriam Webster's

I. intransitive verb (crept; creeping) Etymology: Middle English crepen, from Old English cr?opan; akin to Old Norse krj?pa to creep Date: before 12th century 1. a. to move along with the body prone and close to the ground b. to move slowly on hands and knees 2. a. to go very slowly <the hours crept by> b. to go timidly or cautiously so as to escape notice <she crept away from the festive scene> c. to enter or advance gradually so as to be almost unnoticed <age creeps up on us> <a note of irritation crept into her voice> 3. to have the sensation of being covered with creeping things <the thought made his flesh creep> 4. of a plant to spread or grow over a surface rooting at intervals or clinging with tendrils, stems, or aerial roots 5. a. to slip or gradually shift position b. to change shape permanently from prolonged stress or exposure to high temperatures II. noun Date: 1818 1. a movement of or like creeping <traffic moving at a creep> 2. a distressing sensation like that caused by the creeping of insects over one's flesh; especially a feeling of apprehension or horror — usually used in plural with the <that gives me the creeps> 3. a feed trough accessible only by young animals and used especially to supply special or supplementary feed — called also creep feeder 4. the slow change of dimensions of an object from prolonged exposure to high temperature or stress 5. an unpleasant or obnoxious person 6. a slow but persistent increase or elevation <this political inertia…makes budget creep inevitable — Wall Street Journal>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v.intr. (past and past part. crept) 1 move with the body prone and close to the ground; crawl. 2 (often foll. by in, out, up, etc.) come, go, or move slowly and stealthily or timidly (crept out without being seen). 3 enter slowly (into a person's affections, life, awareness, etc.) (a feeling crept over her; crept into her heart). 4 colloq. act abjectly or obsequiously in the hope of advancement. 5 (of a plant) grow along the ground or up a wall by means of tendrils etc. 6 (as creeping adj.) developing slowly and steadily (creeping inflation). 7 (of the flesh) feel as if insects etc. were creeping over it, as a result of fear, horror, etc. 8 (of metals etc.) undergo creep. --n. 1 a the act of creeping. b an instance of this. 2 (in pl.; prec. by the) colloq. a nervous feeling of revulsion or fear (gives me the creeps). 3 sl. an unpleasant person. 4 the gradual downward movement of disintegrated rock due to gravitational forces etc. 5 (of metals etc.) a gradual change of shape under stress. 6 a low arch under a railway embankment, road, etc. Phrases and idioms: creeping barrage a barrage moving ahead of advancing troops. creeping Jenny any of various creeping plants, esp. moneywort. creeping Jesus sl. an abject or hypocritical person. creep up on approach (a person) stealthily or unnoticed. Etymology: OE creopan f. Gmc

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Creep Creep (kr[=e]p), v. t. [imp. Crept (kr[e^]pt) (Crope (kr[=o]p), Obs.); p. p. Crept; p. pr. & vb. n. Creeping.] [OE. crepen, creopen, AS. cre['o]pan; 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. --Shak. 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. --Shak. 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, v. i., 4. 8. To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Creep Creep, n. 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.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(creeps, creeping, crept) 1. When people or animals creep somewhere, they move quietly and slowly. Back I go to the hotel and creep up to my room... The rabbit creeps away and hides in a hole. VERB: V adv/prep, V adv/prep 2. If something creeps somewhere, it moves very slowly. Mist had crept in again from the sea. VERB: V adv/prep 3. If something creeps in or creeps back, it begins to occur or becomes part of something without people realizing or without them wanting it. Insecurity might creep in... An increasing ratio of mistakes, perhaps induced by tiredness, crept into her game. ...a proposal that crept through unnoticed at the National Council in December... VERB: V in, V into n, V adv/prep 4. If a rate or number creeps up to a higher level, it gradually reaches that level. The inflation rate has been creeping up to 9.5 per cent... The average number of students in each class is creeping up from three to four. VERB: V up to n, V up, also V adj-compar 5. If you describe someone as a creep, you mean that you dislike them a great deal, especially because they are insincere and flatter people. (INFORMAL) N-COUNT [disapproval] 6. If someone or something gives you the creeps, they make you feel very nervous or frightened. (INFORMAL) I always hated that statue. It gave me the creeps. PHRASE: V inflects 7. to make someone's flesh creep: see flesh

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. 1. Crawl. 2. Steal, glide stealthily, come unnoticed. 3. Fawn, cringe, play the sycophant.

Moby Thesaurus

SOB, all fours, amble, andante, bastard, bend the knee, bootlick, bow, bow and scrape, bugger, claudicate, claudication, couch, cower, crawl, crawling, creeping, cringe, crouch, dead march, dogtrot, drag, drag along, drag on, drag out, fart, fawn, feel creepy, feel funny, flatter, footpace, funeral march, go dead slow, go on, go on tiptoe, go slow, grovel, gumshoe, gumshoeing, have gooseflesh, have the creeps, heel, hobble, hood, hooligan, idle, inch, inch along, jerk, jog, jog trot, jog-trot, kneel, kowtow, lay wait, laze, leisurely gait, lick the dust, lickspittle, lie in wait, limp, linger, linger on, louse, lumbering pace, lurk, meanie, mincing steps, mosey, mother, nightwalk, nightwalking, pad, padding, pill, plod, poke, poke along, prowl, prowling, pussyfoot, pussyfooting, rack, rat, saunter, scrabble, scramble, shadow, shamble, shit, shithead, shitheel, shuffle, shuffle along, sidle, sidling, skulk, slink, slinking, slither, slouch, slow march, slow motion, snake, snaking, sneak, sneaking, squirm, stagger along, stalk, steal, steal along, stealing, stinkard, stinker, stoop, stroll, tarry, tippytoe, tiptoe, tiptoeing, toadeat, toady, toddle, toddle along, totter along, traipse, truckle, trudge, turd, waddle, walk, wear on, wiggle, worm, worm along, worming, wriggle