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to seep into

to seep into

25 3.0
To move slowly through a surface into something
  • phrasal verb
  • /sip ˈɪntu/
translation icon : filtrarse en
  • The gray of false dawn was already seeping into the eastern sky.
  • water seep into

I pat all over my face so that it seeps into the skin before I put on the next layer.

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Examples

  • There is so much blood it is seeping into my shoes.

  • We're like, now it's, you know, it's going to seep into the wood.

  • And that allows them to kind of let it seep into their own teaching.

  • And if they start to lose it, it seeps into the relationship.

  • Over time, it seeped into the earth.

  • The worst part is that this doubt, this fear is slowly seeping into all areas of my life.

  • The effect of my childhood has seeped into every aspect of my life.

  • I could feel all those nutrients seeping into the system, strengthening me.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The fact that everybody lives in an ecosystem is only now slowly seeping into society's collective consciousness.

    Academic text (1997)
  • Water began to seep into the cracked foundation of the house after the heavy rain.

Synonyms

to leak
vsto seep into
212 1.0

To let water, gas or light escape through a small opening

is slower and involves movement through surfaces or tiny pores rather than through holes
to seep
vsto seep into
82 2.7

To move slowly through small holes or cracks

is the same meaning but used with an extra preposition indicating direction
to penetrate
vsto seep into
44 5.0

Spread through something and reach all parts, like a strong smell

is limited to slow movement at the surface rather than deep diffusion throughout
to infiltrate
vsto seep into
  • Specialized
16 7.3

To move slowly through a material like soil or walls

is general slow passage through surfaces rather than filtered entry
to percolate
vsto seep into
  • Specialized
3 6.4

Make a liquid or gas move slowly through a material with small holes

is the general slow movement through any surface rather than only porous ones
to leach into
vsto seep into
2 7.5

To slowly move into soil, water, or a person's mind when a liquid carries something there

is about slow physical passage through surfaces rather than broad incorporation
to ooze through
vsto seep into
1 4.8

To flow slowly through small holes or cracks

is less about steady flowing and more about ordinary slow leakage
to transude
vsto seep into
9.9

To pass slowly through a surface and come out as small drops

is broader and shows general slow movement rather than discrete drops

Antonyms

1.0

To stay in the same place or state and not change

to stay put
  • Informal
133 2.0

Remain in the same place without moving

How Fast

to inundate
40 6.8
to seep into
25 3.0
to trickle
70 3.4
ooze
5 6.0

Surface Forms

seep into infinitive
seeped into past participle
seeping into present participle
seeps into third person singular

Morphology

seep + into

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'seep' (to flow or leak gradually) with 'into' (movement inside), so a learner who knows both words will readily infer a slow movement or leakage into something. This verb + preposition composition is a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and thus immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

The verb seep into comes from the image of a little water slowly moving to seep through a crack and go into the floor or wall. So, it now means 'to slowly move or spread into'.