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Creeper

 - 5 dictionary results

creep⋅er

[kree-per]
–noun
1. a person or thing that creeps.
2. Botany. a plant that grows upon or just beneath the surface of the ground, or upon any other surface, sending out rootlets from the stem, as ivy and couch grass.
3. Often, creepers. a one-piece garment for an infant, the lower portion resembling briefs and having snaps or buttons across the crotch for convenience in diapering.
4. Chiefly Northeastern U.S. a spiked iron plate worn on the shoe to prevent slipping on ice, rock, etc.
5. Also called cradle. Automotive. a flat framework on casters, on which a mechanic lies while working under an automobile or the like.
6. Ornithology. any of various birds that creep or climb about on trees, esp. of the family Certhiidae, as Certhia americana (brown creeper or tree creeper), of the Northern Hemisphere.
7. a domestic fowl having malformed, short legs, due to a genetic defect.
8. a grappling device for dragging a river, lake, etc.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME crepere, OE crēopere. See creep, -er 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cra·dle   (krād'l)   
n.  
  1. A small low bed for an infant, often furnished with rockers.

    1. The earliest period of life: had an interest in music almost from the cradle.

    2. A place of origin; a birthplace: the cradle of civilization.

    3. A framework of wood or metal used to support something, such as a ship undergoing construction or repair.

    4. A framework used to protect an injured limb.

    5. A frame projecting above a scythe, used to catch grain as it is cut so that it can be laid flat.

    6. A scythe equipped with such a frame.

    1. A framework of wood or metal used to support something, such as a ship undergoing construction or repair.

    2. A framework used to protect an injured limb.

    3. A frame projecting above a scythe, used to catch grain as it is cut so that it can be laid flat.

    4. A scythe equipped with such a frame.

  2. A low flat framework that rolls on casters, used by a mechanic working beneath an automobile. Also called creeper.

  3. The part of a telephone that contains the connecting switch upon which the receiver and mouthpiece unit is supported.

    1. A frame projecting above a scythe, used to catch grain as it is cut so that it can be laid flat.

    2. A scythe equipped with such a frame.

  4. A boxlike device furnished with rockers, used for washing gold-bearing dirt.

v.   cra·dled, cra·dling, cra·dles

v.   tr.
    1. To place or retain in or as if in a cradle.

    2. To care for or nurture in infancy.

    3. To hold or support protectively: cradled the cat in his arms.

  1. To reap (grain) with a cradle.

  2. To place or support (a ship, for example) in a cradle.

  3. To wash (gold-bearing dirt) in a cradle.

v.   intr. Obsolete
To lie in or as if in a cradle.

[Middle English cradel, from Old English.]
cra'dler n.
creep·er   (krē'pər)   
n.  
  1. One that creeps.

  2. Botany A plant that spreads by means of stems that creep.

  3. See cradle.

  4. A grappling device for dragging bodies of water, such as lakes or rivers.

  5. A one-piece fitted garment for an infant.

  6. creepers A metal frame with a spike or spikes, attached to a shoe or boot to prevent slipping, especially on ice.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: creep·er
Pronunciation: 'krE-p&r
Function: noun
1 : a genetic anomaly of the domestic fowl marked by shortening and thickeningof the long bones in the heterozygote and completely lethal when homozygous
2 : CREEPER FOWL
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Encyclopedia

creeper

any of various small birds that hug tree trunks or rock surfaces as they move about while feeding. The following are songbirds (suborder Passeres; order Passeriformes):

Learn more about creeper with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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