creep Definition

creep
verb, intr crept, creeping

1. To move slowly, with stealth or caution.

Thesaurus: crawl, inch, dawdle, drag, edge, sneak, steal, slink, slither, writhe, tiptoe.
2. To move with the body close to the ground; to crawl.
3. Said of a plant: to grow along the ground, up a wall, etc.
4. To enter barely noticeably.

Example: Anxiety crept into her voice
5. To develop little by little.

Example: Inflation was creeping slowly but surely upwards
6. Said especially of the flesh: to have a strong tingling sensation as a response to fear or disgust.
7. To act in a fawning way.

Thesaurus: cower, cringe, grovel, fawn, skulk, quail.

noun

1. An act of creeping.
2. derog
An unpleasant person.
3. The slow deformation with time of a solid material, especially a metal, under stress, usually occuring at high temperatures.
4. The slow movement of soil, broken rock or mining ground downward under the influence of gravity.

Derivative: creeping
adj

Idiom: give someone the creeps

colloq
To disgust or frighten them.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon creopan.