creep·ing

(krē′pĭng)

adj.

1. Developing gradually over a period of time: "a creeping sense of cultural dread" (Andrew Sullivan).

2. Botany Having stems that creep along the ground and root at intervals.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

creeping

(ˈkriːpɪŋ)

adj

1. (Botany) (of a plant) having a stem that grows horizontally along the ground and throws out roots at intervals

2. censorious (of a process or change) happening slowly and stealthily, without being noticed

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

creeping - a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body; "a crawl was all that the injured man could manage"; "the traffic moved at a creep"

crawling, crawl, creep

locomotion, travel - self-propelled movement

Translations

creeping

[ˈkriːpɪŋ]

A. ADJ (Med etc) → progresivo; [barrage] → móvil

B. CPD creeping inflation N → inflación f progresiva

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

creeping

[ˈkriːpɪŋ] adj (plant) → rampicante
creeping paralysis → paralisi f progressiva

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

And it is like a woman stooping down and creeping about behind that pattern.

It is the same woman, I know, for she is always creeping, and most women do not creep by daylight.

I see her on that long road under the trees, creeping along, and when a carriage comes she hides under the blackberry vines.

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But on this night Saxon did not win to sleep quickly; the little creeping mother came and went; and in the intervals the face of Billy, with the cloud-drifted, sullen, handsome eyes, burned against her eyelids.

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The circling of the stars, growing slower and slower, had given place to creeping points of light.

I moved on a hundred years, and there was the same red sun--a little larger, a little duller--the same dying sea, the same chill air, and the same crowd of earthy crustacea creeping in and out among the green weed and the red rocks.

For a minute perhaps I stared aghast at this blackness that was creeping over the day, and then I realized that an eclipse was beginning.

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Now a dozen warriors were sent creeping ahead to reconnoiter.

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Then I heard the slow, deliberate sound creeping towards me again.

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And now, as the two stood frozen in terror, I saw the author of that fearsome sound creeping stealthily into view.

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Has he not been creeping up that stalk these three days?

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Suddenly the door opened, and a woman as old as the hills, who supported herself on crutches, came creeping out.

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