- 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.
- 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.
- Slang.
- to flirt with or make persistent sexual advances toward someone (often followed by on): He creeps on all the women he meets.
- to cheat on one’s sexual partner: He caught his wife creepin' with the guy who lives next-door.
- to follow someone persistently or stealthily, as on a social media website (often followed by on): He spends a lot of time creeping on her Facebook profile.
- to suddenly intrude into someone’s photograph as it is being taken: Who’s that creeping in the background of the picture?
- to slip, slide, or shift gradually; become displaced.
- (of a metal object) to become deformed, as under continuous loads or at high temperatures.
- to grapple (usually followed by for): The ships crept for their anchor chains.
- to follow persistently or stealthily, especially online: I’ve been creeping her blog and found some great recipes.
- to creep along or over.
- an act or instance of creeping: It seems as if time has slowed to a creep.
- an obnoxious, disturbingly eccentric, deviant, or painfully introverted person.
- an intelligence or counterintelligence agent; spy.
- creeper (def. 10).
- a gradual or inconspicuous increase, advance, change, or development: Avoid jargon creep in your writing.We are seeing the steady creep of consumerism.
- 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.
- the gradual, permanent deformation of a body produced by a continued application of heat or stress.
- a grappling iron; grapnel.
- the slack in a trigger mechanism before it releases the firing pin.
- creep feeder.
- 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.
- to cause to experience uneasiness or disgust: She’s been getting crank calls that are creeping her out. I was so creeped out that I had to sleep with the lights on.
- to be frightening or repellent; cause one to experience uneasiness: The eerie stories made our flesh creep.
- to crawl with the body near to or touching the ground
- to move slowly, quietly, or cautiously
- to act in a servile way; fawn; cringe
- to move or slip out of place, as from pressure or wear
- (of plants) to grow along the ground or over rocks, producing roots, suckers, or tendrils at intervals
- (of a body or substance) to become permanently deformed as a result of an applied stress, often when combined with heating
- to develop gradually
- to have the sensation of something crawling over the skin
- (of metals) to undergo slow plastic deformation
- the act of creeping or a creeping movement
- a person considered to be obnoxious or servile
- the continuous permanent deformation of a body or substance as a result of stress or heat
- the gradual downwards movement of loose rock material, soil, etc, on a slope
- a slow relative movement of two adjacent parts, structural components, etc
- slow plastic deformation of metals
