creep.
To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.
Meaning & usage
To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.
Lizards and snakes crept over the ground.
To grow across a surface rather than upwards.
To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction.
He tried to creep past the guard without being seen.
To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction.
Prices have been creeping up all year.
To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to insinuate itself or oneself.
Old age creeps upon us.
To slip, or to become slightly displaced.
The collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may creep in drying.
The quicksilver on a mirror may creep.
To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn.
A creeping sycophant.
To have a sensation as of insects creeping on the skin of the body; to crawl.
The sight made my flesh creep.
To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.
To covertly have sex (with a person other than one's primary partner); to cheat with.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *kreupan, from Proto-Germanic *kreupaną (“to twist, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian krûpe (“to creep, crawl”), Central Franconian kruffe (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch kruipen (“to creep, crawl”), Low German krepen, krupen (“to creep, crawl”), Danish krybe (“to creep”), Faroese krúpa (“to creep”), Icelandic krjúpa (“to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees”), Norwegian Bokmål krype (“to creep”), Norwegian Nynorsk krjupa, krjupe, krypa, krype (“to creep, crawl”), Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”). The noun is derived from the verb. Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep
The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails).
A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure.
A slight displacement of an object; the slight movement of something.
The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively.
Christmas creep
feature creep
In sewn books, the tendency of pages on the inside of a quire to stand out farther than those on the outside of it.
An increase in strain with time; the gradual flow or deformation of a material under stress.
The imperceptible downslope movement of surface rock.
Someone creepy (annoyingly unpleasant), especially one who is strange or eccentric.
A person who engages in sexually inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment.
A barrier with small openings used to keep large animals out while allowing smaller animals to pass through.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan (“to creep, crawl”), from Proto-West Germanic *kreupan, from Proto-Germanic *kreupaną (“to twist, creep”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ- (“to turn, wind”). Cognates Cognate with West Frisian krûpe (“to creep, crawl”), Central Franconian kruffe (“to creep, crawl”), Dutch kruipen (“to creep, crawl”), Low German krepen, krupen (“to creep, crawl”), Danish krybe (“to creep”), Faroese krúpa (“to creep”), Icelandic krjúpa (“to kneel down, to genuflect, to get down on one's knees”), Norwegian Bokmål krype (“to creep”), Norwegian Nynorsk krjupa, krjupe, krypa, krype (“to creep, crawl”), Swedish krypa (“to creep, crawl”). The noun is derived from the verb. Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.