Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Creep
Creep
(krēp)
, Verb.
T.
[
imp.
Crept
(krĕpt)
(Crope
(krōp)
, Obs
.); p. p.
Crept
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Creeping
.] 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
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 . . .
Unwillingly to school.
creeping
, like snail,Unwillingly to school.
Shakespeare
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 usThe 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
sycophantTo come as humbly as they used to
creep
. Shakespeare
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; , 4.
as, the sight made my flesh
. See creep
Crawl
, Verb.
I.
8.
To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.
Creep
,Noun.
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
Like rising wind in leaves.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Creep
CREEP
,Verb.
I.
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.