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creep

[kreep]

Origin

verb (used without object)

to move slowly with the body close to the ground, as a reptile or an insect, or a person on hands and knees.

to approach slowly, imperceptibly, or stealthily (often followed by up): We crept up and peeked over the wall.

to move or advance slowly or gradually: The automobile crept up the hill. Time just seems to creep along on these hot summer days.

to sneak up behind someone or without someone's knowledge (usually followed by up on): The prisoners crept up on the guard and knocked him out.

to enter or become evident inconspicuously, gradually, or insidiously (often followed by in or into:) The writer's personal bias occasionally creeps into the account.

EXPAND

to move or behave timidly or servilely.

to grow along the ground, a wall, etc., as a plant.

to advance or develop gradually so as to infringe on or supplant something else: creeping inflation; creeping socialism.

to slip, slide, or shift gradually; become displaced.

10.

(of a metal object) to become deformed, as under continuous loads or at high temperatures.

11.

Nautical. to grapple (usually followed by for): The ships crept for their anchor chains.

COLLAPSE

verb (used with object)

12.

Archaic. to creep along or over.

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Creep is one of our favorite verbs.

So is skedaddle. Does it mean:

to run away hurriedly; flee.

to flee; abscond:

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noun

13.

an act or instance of creeping: It seems as if time has slowed to a creep.

14.

Slang. a boring, disturbingly eccentric, painfully introverted, or obnoxious person.

15.

Slang. an intelligence or counterintelligence agent; spy.

16.

a gradual or inconspicuous increase, advance, change, or development: Avoid jargon creep in your writing. We are seeing the steady creep of consumerism.

17.

Geology.

the gradual movement downhill of loose soil, rock, gravel, etc.; solifluction.

the slow deformation of solid rock resulting from constant stress applied over long periods.

EXPAND

18.

Mechanics. the gradual, permanent deformation of a body produced by a continued application of heat or stress.

19.

a grappling iron; grapnel.

20.

Firearms. the slack in a trigger mechanism before it releases the firing pin.

21.

creep feeder.

22.

the creeps, Informal. a sensation of horror, fear, disgust, etc., suggestive of the feeling induced by something crawling over the skin: That horror movie gave me the creeps.

COLLAPSE

Idiom

23.

make one's flesh creep, to be frightening or repellent; cause one to experience uneasiness: The eerie stories made our flesh creep.

Origin:
before 900; Middle English crepen, Old English crēopan; cognate with Dutch kruipen, Old Norse krjūpa

Related forms

creep·ing·ly, adverb

non·creep·ing, adjective

out·creep, verb (used with object), out·crept, out·creep·ing.

un·creep·ing, adjective

Synonyms
1. See crawl. 3. inch, crawl, dawdle, poke.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To creep

Collins

World English Dictionary

creep (kriːp)

—vb , creeps, creeping, crept
1.	to crawl with the body near to or touching the ground
2.	to move slowly, quietly, or cautiously
3.	to act in a servile way; fawn; cringe
4.	to move or slip out of place, as from pressure or wear
5.	(of plants) to grow along the ground or over rocks, producing roots, suckers, or tendrils at intervals
6.	(of a body or substance) to become permanently deformed as a result of an applied stress, often when combined with heating
7.	to develop gradually: creeping unrest
8.	to have the sensation of something crawling over the skin
9.	(of metals) to undergo slow plastic deformation

—n
10.	the act of creeping or a creeping movement
11.	slang a person considered to be obnoxious or servile
12.	the continuous permanent deformation of a body or substance as a result of stress or heat
13.	geology the gradual downwards movement of loose rock material, soil, etc, on a slope
14.	a slow relative movement of two adjacent parts, structural components, etc
15.	slow plastic deformation of metals

[Old English crēopan; related to Old Frisian kriāpa, Old Norse krjūpa, Middle Low German krūpen]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

creep

O.E. creopan "to creep" (class II strong verb; past tense creap, pp. cropen), from P.Gmc. *kreupanan, from PIE base *greug-. Noun use for "despicable person" is 1935, Amer.Eng. slang, perhaps from earlier sense of "sneak thief" (1914). Creeper "a gilded rascal" is recorded from c.1600, and the word also

EXPAND

was used of certain classes of thieves, esp. those who robbed customers in brothels. The creeps first attested 1849, in Dickens.

COLLAPSE

Slang Dictionary

creep definition

n.
a weird person; an eerie person. : Charlie is such a creep when he's stoned.

Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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American Heritage

Abbreviations & Acronyms

CREEP
Committee to Reelect the President

American Heritage

Idioms & Phrases

creep

In addition to the idiom beginning with creep, also see make one's flesh creep; the creeps.