creep

noun

the tendency of a solid material to move slowly or deform permanently
manner of motion

L22658 on Wikidata ↗

verb

manner of motion

L22659 on Wikidata ↗

Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /kɹiːp/ / [kʰɹiːp]

name

Acronym of Committee to Re-elect the President, which raised money for Richard Nixon's campaign for 1972 reelection.
“While presidential elections have been marred by mudslinging since the early Republic, these USC alums deployed a particular type of dirty tricks: what became known as “ratf--king,” or the use of unscrupulous tactics to interfere with the campaigns of opponents. The tactics pioneered by members of Trojans for Representative Government and later CREEP set a precedent for the sort of organized political sabotage that has become commonplace today in a digital world, especially for Republicans.”

noun

Etymology: 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 from the verb. Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *grewbʰ-der. Proto-Germanic *kreupaną Proto-West Germanic *kreupan Old English crēopan Middle English crepen English creep

The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails).
A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure.
A slight displacement of an object; the slight movement of something.
The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively.
“Christmas creep”
“feature creep”
In sewn books, the tendency of pages on the inside of a quire to stand out farther than those on the outside of it.
An increase in strain with time; the gradual flow or deformation of a material under stress.
The imperceptible downslope movement of surface rock.
Someone creepy (annoyingly unpleasant), especially one who is strange or eccentric.
“"You mentioned some others," I said. "More creeps," she told me. '"That guy was plain looking for trouble. You know, he starts hanging out with some of the shooters Whitey Tass keeps around, angling for an introduction to the big man himself, and he's damn lucky he got picked up by the fuzz before Whitey got sore. He runs too big an operation in the city to be bugged by a pig like Yard. One day Lou Steubal tried to get an inside track with Whitey, levering him on account of what Whitey did to his sister, and they found Lou in the drink. It looked like Lou got gassed up and fell in, but don't try to tell me that. Whitey had him tapped out."”
“But I'm a creep / I'm a weirdo / What the hell am I doing here? / I don't belong here”
A person who engages in sexually inappropriate behaviour or sexual harassment.
“It was whispered that the priest was a pervert. Was he? The girls said he was a creep. I didn't quite know what it meant to be a creep, but it was obviously not a good thing. It was said that he sometimes fondled the girls, their breasts, and said lousy things to them, that they were beautiful or something like that.[…]Disgusting guys. I thought the guy at Bústaðir was a creep. An old man who liked to dance.”
“Saiera shuddered through an exaggerated shiver. "He's a creep. He was a creep in high school, and he's been a creep ever since. Look..." She flipped to the index, found what she was looking for, and fanned the pages until she reached the one she wanted. "Here he is. A young Andy Gluck, chubby as a penguin, stared out of the page from behind round wire-frame glasses. A camera hung from a strap around his neck. […] "He doesn't look creepy," I said. "Kind of nerdy, in a harmless way. "Looks can be deceiving. See that camera? He was always going around with that camera, snapping pictures. Some girls caught him trying to get 'up skirt' shots while they sat at their desks.[…]"”
A barrier with small openings used to keep large animals out while allowing smaller animals to pass through.

verb

To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.
“Lizards and snakes crept over the ground.”
“One evening, while the Rabbit was lying there alone, watching the ants that ran to and fro between his velvet paws in the grass, he saw two strange beings creep out of the tall bracken near him.”
To grow across a surface rather than upwards.
To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction.
“He tried to creep past the guard without being seen.”
“Electrification of the Eastern Region main line from Strasbourg, incidentally, is steadily creeping nearer to Paris, and is now complete as far as Château Thierry, 59 miles away; [...].”
To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction.
“Prices have been creeping up all year.”
To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to insinuate itself or oneself.
“Old age creeps upon us.”
“[…]guard his understanding from being imposed on by the willful or at least undesigned sophistry which creeps into most of the books of argument.”
To slip, or to become slightly displaced.
“The collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may creep in drying.”
“The quicksilver on a mirror may creep.”
To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn.
“A creeping sycophant.”
“To come as humbly as they used to creep / To holy altars.”
To have a sensation as of insects creeping on the skin of the body; to crawl.
“The sight made my flesh creep.”
To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.
To covertly have sex (with a person other than one's primary partner); to cheat with.
“Honey came in and she caught me red-handed / Creeping with the girl next door / Picture this we were both butt naked / Banging on the bathroom floor”
“I don't wanna know / If you're playin' me, keep it on the low / 'Cause my heart can't take it anymore / And if you're creepin', please don't let it show”