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creep

creep

2 5.3
A slow movement of the body, often on hands and knees
  • noun
  • /kriːp/
: gateo
  • With a careful creep, the cat approached the sleeping dog to sniff its ears.

Examples

  • After a long journey, the soldier's slow creep through the tall grass was necessary to avoid detection.

  • The boys were beginning to feel the cold creep in.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • This whole place kind of gives me the creeps.

  • This place gives me the creeps.

  • The thought of them touching me gives me the creeps.

  • This dump gives me the creeps.

  • It gives me the creeps.

  • The child's creep across the floor was so quiet that no one noticed him hiding.

Synonyms

crawling
vscreep
5 1.0

A way of moving slowly on your hands and knees or by dragging your body along the ground

is the general name for slow motion, not only the act
crawl
vscreep
4 1.2

A slow movement made by moving on hands and knees or by dragging the body

is the broader term for slow motion, not limited to this form
shuffling
vscreep
1 3.9

To walk slowly while dragging the feet so they barely lift

focuses instead on slow motion that often uses hands or full body dragging
shambling
vscreep
1 8.6

Walking with slow, dragging steps without lifting the feet properly

highlights slow movement done on hands, knees, or by dragging the body
creeping
vscreep
1 4.6

A slow movement on hands and knees or along the ground

is the common label for slow motion, not only this specific type

Antonyms

199 1.0

A movement in which you push yourself off the ground into the air

67 1.0

To move very quickly to reach a place

Compounds

A slow change that makes a project do more than planned

bracket creep
  • Literature
1 8.5

When inflation raises pay, people move into higher tax bands and pay more tax without getting richer

creep feed
  • Specialized
6.8

Special food given to young animals like piglets or calves that adults cannot reach

A small opening you look through to watch without being seen

How Fast

sprint
44 2.1
to run
∞ 1.0
jog
28 1.0
to walk
∞ 1.0
creep
2 5.3

Surface Forms

creep singular
creeps plural

Etymology

Creep as a noun for a slow movement comes from old English crēopan 'to move close to the ground', so a 'creep' names a very slow, low movement like a car or snail barely moving forward.