CREEP (crept)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: crept   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does creep mean? 

• CREEP (noun)
  The noun CREEP has 4 senses:

1. someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric

2. a slow longitudinal movement or deformation

3. a pen that is fenced so that young animals can enter but adults cannot

4. a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body

  Familiarity information: CREEP used as a noun is uncommon.

• CREEP (verb)
  The verb CREEP has 4 senses:

1. move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground

2. to go stealthily or furtively

3. grow or spread, often in such a way as to cover (a surface)

4. show submission or fear

  Familiarity information: CREEP used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CREEP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

creep; spook; weirdie; weirdo; weirdy

Hypernyms ("creep" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Derivation:

creep (to go stealthily or furtively)

creepy (annoying and unpleasant)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A slow longitudinal movement or deformation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("creep" is a kind of...):

change of location; travel (a movement through space that changes the location of something)

Derivation:

creep (move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A pen that is fenced so that young animals can enter but adults cannot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("creep" is a kind of...):

pen (an enclosure for confining livestock)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

crawl; crawling; creep; creeping

Context example:

the traffic moved at a creep

Hypernyms ("creep" is a kind of...):

locomotion; travel (self-propelled movement)

Derivation:

creep (move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground)

• CREEP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they creep    ... he / she / it creeps   
Past simple: crept   
Past participle: crept   
-ing form: creeping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

crawl; creep

Context example:

The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed

Hypernyms (to "creep" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "creep"):

formicate (crawl about like ants)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence examples:

The crowds creep in the streets
The streets creep with crowds

Derivation:

creep (a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body)

creep (a slow longitudinal movement or deformation)

creeper (a person who crawls or creeps along the ground)

creeping (a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To go stealthily or furtively

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

creep; mouse; pussyfoot; sneak

Context example:

..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house

Hypernyms (to "creep" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children creep to the playground

Derivation:

creep (someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric)

creeper (a person who crawls or creeps along the ground)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Grow or spread, often in such a way as to cover (a surface)

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

ivy crept over the walls of the university buildings

Hypernyms (to "creep" is one way to...):

diffuse; fan out; spread; spread out (move outward)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

creeper (any plant (as ivy or periwinkle) that grows by creeping)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Show submission or fear

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

cower; crawl; creep; cringe; fawn; grovel

Hypernyms (to "creep" is one way to...):

bend; flex (form a curve)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

 Context examples 

I crept forward and looked across at the familiar window.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She was debating within herself on the eligibility of beginning her story directly, or postponing it till Marianne were in stronger health;—and they crept on for a few minutes in silence.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

It was a vast slide that broke the straight wall of a cliff, and was overrun with brush and creeping plants, where a score of tribes could have lain well hidden.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I crept softly up the companion-way and peeped at him.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

He could feel a flush of warm blood creeping up his face.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

All the little changes that had crept in when the Heeps were there, were changed again.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

As we wound on our endless way, and the sun sank lower and lower behind us, the shadows of the evening began to creep round us.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

She nestled against him, and then, with a change of position, her hands crept up and rested upon his neck.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

All the day long she flew about in the form of an owl, or crept about the country like a cat; but at night she always became an old woman again.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

If it had been Silver and his lads that were now creeping in on them, not a soul would have seen daybreak.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)