creeps

creep

(krēp)

intr.v. crept (krĕpt), creep·ing, creeps

1. To move with the body close to the ground, as on hands and knees.

2.

a. To move stealthily or cautiously.

b. To move or proceed very slowly: Traffic creeps at that hour.

3. Botany

a. To grow or spread along a surface, rooting at intervals or clinging by means of suckers or tendrils.

b. To grow horizontally under the ground, as the rhizomes of many plants.

4. To slip out of place; shift gradually.

5. To have a tingling sensation, made by or as if by things moving stealthily: a moan that made my flesh creep.

n.

1. The act of creeping; a creeping motion or progress.

2. Slang An annoyingly unpleasant, unsettling, or repulsive person.

3. A slow flow of metal when under high temperature or great pressure.

4. A slow change in a characteristic of electronic equipment, such as a decrease in power with continued usage.

5. A usually unplanned and gradual shift or increase in uses or objectives away from what was originally specified or limited. Often used in combination: the function creep of using social security numbers for general identification purposes; mission creep from a military peacekeeping role to one of providing economic development.

6. Geology The slow movement of rock debris and soil down a weathered slope.

7. creeps Informal A sensation of fear or repugnance, as if things were crawling on one's skin: That house gives me the creeps.

Phrasal Verb:

creep out Informal

To cause (someone) to feel fear or repugnance: The scary movie really creeped me out.

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[Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan.]

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.

creeps

(kriːps)

pl n

the creeps informal a feeling of fear, repulsion, disgust, etc

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

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	creeps - a disease of cattle and sheep attributed to a dietary deficiency; characterized by anemia and softening of the bones and a slow stiff gait animal disease - a disease that typically does not affect human beings
	2.	creeps - a feeling of fear and revulsion; "he gives me the creeps" colloquialism - a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech fear, fearfulness, fright - an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger (usually accompanied by a desire to flee or fight)

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