Adjacent Words

Sneak definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SNEAK, v.i. [See Snake.]
1. To creep or steal away privately; to withdraw meanly, as a person afraid or ashamed to be seen; as, to sneak away from company; to sneak into a corner or behind a screen. You skulk'd behind the fence, and sneak'd away.
2. To speak roughly; to talk in rude murmuring terms. It is malicious and unmanly to snarly at the little lapses of a pen, from which Virgil himself stands not exempted.
SNEAK, v.t. To hide. [Not in use.]
SNEAK, n. A mean fellow.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch" [syn: furtive, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious] n
1: a person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible
2: someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions [syn: prowler, sneak, stalker]
3: someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police [syn: fink, snitch, snitcher, stoolpigeon, stool pigeon, stoolie, sneak, sneaker, canary] v
1: to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house" [syn: sneak, mouse, creep, pussyfoot]
2: put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner; "sneak a look"; "sneak a cigarette"
3: make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, sneak, filch, nobble, lift]
4: pass on stealthily; "He slipped me the key when nobody was looking" [syn: slip, sneak]

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (sneaked or snuck; sneaking) Etymology: akin to Old English sn?can to sneak along, Old Norse sn?kja Date: 1594 intransitive verb 1. to go stealthily or furtively ; slink <snuck out early> 2. to act in or as if in a furtive manner 3. to carry the football on a quarterback sneak transitive verb to put, bring, or take in a furtive or artful manner <sneak a smoke> Synonyms: see lurk Usage: From its earliest appearance in print in the late 19th century as a dialectal and probably uneducated form, the past and past participle snuck has risen to the status of standard and to approximate equality with sneaked. Indications are that it is continuing to grow in frequency. It is most common in the United States and Canada, but has also been spotted in British and Australian English. II. noun Date: circa 1643 1. a person who acts in a stealthy, furtive, or shifty manner 2. a. a stealthy or furtive move b. an unobserved departure or escape 3. sneaker 2 — usually used in plural 4. quarterback sneak III. adjective Date: circa 1859 1. carried on secretly ; clandestine 2. occurring without warning ; surprise <a sneak attack>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v., n., & adj. --v. 1 intr. & tr. (foll. by in, out, past, away, etc.) go or convey furtively; slink. 2 tr. sl. steal unobserved; make off with. 3 intr. Brit. schoolsl. tell tales; turn informer. 4 intr. (as sneaking adj.) a furtive; undisclosed (have a sneaking affection for him). b persistent in one's mind; nagging (a sneaking feeling that it is not right). --n. 1 a mean-spirited cowardly underhand person. 2 Brit. schoolsl. a tell-tale. --adj. acting or done without warning; secret (a sneak attack). Phrases and idioms: sneak-thief a thief who steals without breaking in; a pickpocket. Derivatives: sneakingly adv. Etymology: 16th c., prob. dial.: perh. rel. to ME snike, OE snican creep

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sneak Sneak, v. t. To hide, esp. in a mean or cowardly manner. [Obs.] ``[Slander] sneaks its head.'' --Wake.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sneak Sneak, n. 1. A mean, sneaking fellow. A set of simpletons and superstitious sneaks. --Glanvill. 2. (Cricket) A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; -- called also grub. [Cant] --R. A. Proctor.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Sneak Sneak (sn[=e]k), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sneaked (sn[=e]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Sneaking.] [OE. sniken, AS. sn[=i]can to creep; akin to Dan. snige sig; cf. Icel. sn[=i]kja to hanker after.] 1. To creep or steal (away or about) privately; to come or go meanly, as a person afraid or ashamed to be seen; as, to sneak away from company.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(sneaks, sneaking, sneaked) Note: The form 'snuck' is also used in American English for the past tense and past participle. 1. If you sneak somewhere, you go there very quietly on foot, trying to avoid being seen or heard. Sometimes he would sneak out of his house late at night to be with me... VERB: V adv/prep 2. If you sneak something somewhere, you take it there secretly. He smuggled papers out each day, photocopied them, and snuck them back... You even snuck me a cigarette. VERB: V n prep/adv, V n n 3. If you sneak a look at someone or something, you secretly have a quick look at them. You sneak a look at your watch to see how long you've got to wait. = steal VERB: V n prep 4. see also sneaking

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Skulk, lurk, slink, steal. 2. Crouch, truckle. II. n. Shirk, lurker, mean fellow.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A pilferer. Morning sneak; one who pilfers early in the morning, before it is light. Evening sneak; an evening pilferer. Upright sneak: one who steals pewter pots from the alehouse boys employed to collect them. To go upon the sneak; to steal into houses whose doors are carelessly left open. Cant.

Moby Thesaurus

arrant coward, blackguard, caitiff, clandestine, couch, covert, cower, craven, crawl, creep, cringe, crouch, cur, dastard, devil, fink, furtive, glide, go on tiptoe, grass, grovel, gumshoe, heel, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, inch, inch along, informer, knave, lay wait, lie in wait, louse, lurk, nark, nightwalk, pad, poltroon, precious rascal, prowl, pussyfoot, quail, rapscallion, rascal, recreant, reptile, rogue, run, scalawag, scamp, scoundrel, scrabble, scramble, shadow, shirk, shithead, shyster, sidle, skulk, skunk, slide, slink, slip, slither, sly, smuggle, snake, sneaker, snitch, snook, spalpeen, stalk, steal, steal along, stealthy, stoolie, surreptitious, tippytoe, tiptoe, toad, undercover, villain, weasel, worm, worm along