| 释义 |
underˈcreep, v. Obs. exc. dial.
[under-1 4 b and 8 b. Cf. OE. undercréopan.]
1. intr. To creep in (stealthily).
1382Wyclif Deut. xv. 9 Be war lest perauenture vndur crepe [L. subrepat] to thee a wickid thouȝt. c1407Lydg. Reson & Sens. 6226 For age, or they taken kepe, Lyche a thefe wil vnderkrepe, And appallen the beaute.
2. trans. To creep in beneath. Also fig.
a1440Found. St. Bartholomews (E.E.T.S.) 40 And now hath vndircrept them necligence, charite chyillith. 1558T. Phaer æneid vi. Q j b, That seat, men say, do Fansies keepe, And Dreames vncertaine dwell, and euery leafe they vndercreepe. c1597Harington On Play in Nugæ Ant. (1804) I. 227 The olde wall standes by the helpe of that ivey that was the first cawse of rottinge and undercreepinge the fowndacion thearof. 1615Chapman Odyss. ix. 587, I then, Choosing myself the fairest of the den, His fleecy belly under-crept. 1642H. More Song of Soul iii. iii, When we that stately wall had undercrept, We straightway found our selves in Dizoie.
b. fig. To subvert secretly; to outdo by craft or stealth; to undersell in trade.
1592in R. W. Cochran-Patrick Records Mining in Scotl. (1878) 59 And thairby sum persones seikand thair avin commoditie myndis to vndercrepe my rycht and tytill. Ibid. 61. 1602 in H. Foley Rec. Eng. Prov. Soc. Jesus (1875) I. i. 10 He approved it for better policy to undercreep the Scottish agents here. 1623Sir J. Eliot in Forster Life (1864) I. 169 Now, for the price, others under-creep us, and so fore⁓stall our markets.
c. To evade, escape.
a1618Raleigh Prerog. Parl. (1628) 34 Surely my Lord, it is a greater treason (though it vndercrepe the law) to teare from the Crowne the ornaments thereof.
Hence underˈcreeping vbl. n. and ppl. a.
1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xix. (Bodl. MS.), Bi vndercreping and..preuey rennynge of water erþe is ywasted somme and somme. 1847Halliwell, Undercreeping, mean; pitiful; in an underhand way. Somerset. (Also 1863– in south-western glossaries.) 1893W. Raymond Gentleman Upcott's Dau. ix. (E.D.D.), Above everything he hated undercreeping. |