creep

CEFRB1

/kɹiːp/

verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To move slowly and quietly, often close to the ground.

  2. 02

    verb

    To increase or develop slowly.

Examples

  • Sometimes it's fun to creep yourself out thinking about it.

  • The cat took advantage of the high grass to creep on the bird.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To grow across a surface rather than upwards.

  2. To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.

  3. To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction.

More examples

In context

  • The sight made my flesh creep.

  • He tried to creep past the guard without being seen.

  • Lizards and snakes crept over the ground.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The cat began to blank silently toward the unsuspecting bird on the lawn.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

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 fr...