| 释义 |
▪ I. creep, v.|kriːp|
Pa. tense and pa. pple. crept |krɛpt|. Forms: see below.
[A common Teutonic strong vb.: OE. créopan = OS. criopan, OFris. kriapa (NFris. krepen, Satl. kriope), ON. krjúpa (Sw. krypa, Da. krybe):—OTeut. *kreupan. As with some other verbs of the same class (cf. bow, brook, lout), the present has in some of the langs. ú for eu, as OLG. krúpan, MDu. crúpen, Du. kruipen, MLG., LG. and EFris. krûpen, MG. krûfen, kraufen. In OHG. replaced by chriohhan, MHG. and mod.Ger. kriechen, repr. a type kreukan, the relation of which to kreupan is uncertain.
The OTeut. conjugation was, pres. kreupan, pa. tense kraup, pl. krupun, pa. pple. krupan; whence OE. pres. créopan (3rd sing. críepþ), pa. tense créap, pl. crupon, pa. pple. cropen. The OE. pres. créopan, ME. crēpen (close ē), has regularly given the modern creep; occasional ME. instances of crope are app. errors. The pa. tense sing. créap regularly gave ME. crêp (open ê), spelt also crepe, creep(e, which was in general use to the 15th c., and survives with short vowel in the dialectal crep. The pl. crupon, crupe(n, became in the 13th c. cropen, crope, after the pa. pple.; and this passed also into the sing. as crope, the prevailing type of the tense to the 16th c., after which it gradually dropped out of literary use, though still widely used in English and U.S. dialects. In the northern dial., the form adopted in the 13th c. was crap (after the pa. tense of other classes), which is still Scotch. But already before 1400, weak forms creep-ed and crep-t, began to take the place of all these, the second of which has since 16th c. gradually attained to be the standard form, leaving crep, crope, crop, crup, crap, as only dialectal. The pa. pple. cropen continued till the 17th c. in literary use, and to the 19th c. in the northern dial. where the vowel is still short croppen, cruppen; in the south it became in 13th c. crope, also literary Eng. to the 18th c.; but a weak form crepid, creeped began to appear in the 14th c., and in the form crept, identical with the pa. tense, has been the dominant form since the 16th c.]
A. Illustration of Forms.
1. pres. tense. 1 créopan, críopan, (crýpan), 1–3 3rd sing. criep(e)ð; 2–4 creope(n, (kreope(n); 2–6 crepe(n, (3–6 crope, 4 cryepe); 4–5 krepe, 4–7 creepe, (6 creape), 7– creep, (Sc. 5– creip).
c1000ælfric Gram. xxviii. (Z.) 170 Repo ic creope. c1175Lamb. Hom. 23 Hwa creopeð þer-in? c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 199 Þe neddre..criepeð..þureh nerewe hole. a1250Owl & Night. 819 Þe fox can crepe [v.r. crope] bi þe heie. c1305Edmund Conf. 107 in E.E.P. (1862) 73 Makede hire redi to kreopen in. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xxi. 475 Arys..and creop on kneos to þe croys. 1483Cath. Angl. 81 To Crepe, repere. 1570Levins Manip. 70 To creepe, repere. 1583Hollyband Campo di Fior 137 Why creape you on the grounde? 1667Milton P.L. ii. 950 And swims or sinks, or wades, or creeps, or flyes.
2. pa. tense. (α) sing. 1–3 créap, 3 (creop), 3–5 crep, crepe, 4–5 creep(e, 9 dial. crep; pl. 1 crupon, 2–3 crupen.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 394 (Bosw.) Heo creap betwux ðam mannum. a1100O.E. Chron. an. 1083 Sume crupon under. a1225Leg. Kath. 908 [He] com ant creap in ure. c1250Gen. & Ex. 2924 Ðor crep a dragun. 1340–70Alisaunder 1009 Þer crep oute an addre. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 306 She creepe [v.rr. (MSS. 1435–75) creep, crepe, crep, crepte] in to the clerk. 1881Leicester Gloss., Crep, pt. and p.p., crept.
(β) pl. 3–4 cropen, 3– crope; sing. 4 crop, croup, 5– crope (sing. and pl. 6 croape, dial. 7–9 crop, 9 crup).
c1275Lay. 18472 Somme hii crope [c 1205 crupen] to þan wode. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 170/2217 Heo..cropen al-so ase ametene al aboute. a1300Cursor M. 2303 (Cott.) Þaa wigurs croup þe warlau in. c1420Avow. Arth. lxv, The caytef crope in-to a tunne. 1535Coverdale 1 Sam. xiii. 6 They crope in to caues and dennes. 1572R. H. tr. Lauaterus' Ghostes (1596) 207 Divers errours croape into the Church. 1606W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 14 Before the Kirk-buriall crop in. 1672Sir C. Wyvill Triple Crown 160 He crope quietly on again. a1734North Exam. i. iii. §144 (1740) 217 Another Witness crope out against the Lord Stafford. 1831Landor Fra Rupert Wks. 1846 II. 577 His dog soon crope betwixt us. 1883C. F. Smith Southernisms in Trans. Amer. Philol. Soc. 47 Crope, preterit and past participle of creep, is common among the negroes and poorer whites.
(γ) north. 3–9 crap, (4–5 crape).
c1205Lay. 29282 Þe sparewe innene crap. c1450Henryson Mor. Fab. 44 To an Caue he crape. 1513Douglas æneis ii. v. (iv.) 48 And crap in wnder the feit of the goddes. a1605Montgomerie ‘Since that the Hevins’ 41 With my king in credit once I crap. 1795Macneill Will & Jean iii, Gloamin..crap ower distant hill and plain.
(δ) 4–5 creped, -id, crepped, (kreppet), 7–9 creeped, (4– Sc. creipit).
c1300K. Alis. 390 On hire bed twyes he leped, The thridde tyme yn he creped. 14..Chaucer MS. [see B. 1]. 1634Massinger Very Woman iv. iii, How the devil Creeped he into my head? 1807[see B. 1]. Mod. Sc. A fox creepit [or crap] through the hole.
(ε) 4– crept(e.
c1350Cursor M. 15388 (Fairf.) Crepped in him Sathanas [Trin. MS. crepte, Cott. crep, Gött. croupe]. c1350Will. Palerne 2235 And crepten into a caue. 1548Hall Chron. 169 Whereunto..[this] tended and crept up. 1632Lithgow Trav. iv. (1682) 141 He crept in favour with Christians. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. xi. 69 We crossed crevasses and crept round slippery ridges.
3. pa. pple. (α) 1–7 (north. dial. –9) cropen, 5–6 Sc. croppin, croipin, (6 crepen, 9 north. dial. croppen, cruppen, Yorksh. creppen).
c1205Lay. 5671 Þa ilke þe aniht weoren atcropene. c1386Chaucer Frankl. T. 886 As thou..were cropen out of the ground. 1423Jas. I. Kingis Q. clxxxii, Quho that from hell war croppin onys in hevin. 1481Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 17 He had cropen therein. a1553Philpot Wks. (1842) 336 Corruptions have crepen into the people. 1563Winȝet Four Scoir Thre Quest. Wks. 1888 I. 132 Abuiss..croipin in the Kirk. a1572Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 401 Frensche men ar croppin in of lait. 1621Markham Prev. Hunger (1655) 32 Cropen away and hidden. 1698Lister in Phil. Trans. XX. 247 [They] would have cropen away. 1790Mrs. Wheeler Westmrld. Dial. (1821) 23 Sic pride croppen intul Storth an Arnside. 1855Robinson Whitby Gloss., Croppen or Cropen, crept. ‘Where hae ye gitten croppen to?’
(β) 3–4 ycrope, ycrop, 3–8 crope, (4–5 crepe).
c1275Lay. 5671 Þat weren awei crope. c1325Coer de L. 3473 In the erthe they wolde have crope. c1330Arth. & Merl. 7229 Whider-ward were ye y-crope. c1440J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iii. 404 If he ware Crope thorow þe ȝate. 1595Markham Sir R. Grinvile, To the fayrest i, A Heauenlie fier is crope into my braine. 1642Rogers Naaman 71 The Lord speakes of those..despised men, crope out of captivity. a1734North Examen 273 (D.) The Captain was just crope out of Newgate.
(γ) 4–5 crepid, 7–9 creeped.
c1430Chaucer Reeve's T. 339 (Camb. MS.) He wende a crepid by hese felawe Ion [5 MSS. cropen, Harl. crope]. 1761Hume Hist. Eng. I. xvi. 396 Intestine faction had creeped into the Government of France. Mod. Sc. It has creepit oot.
(δ) 6– crept.
1535Coverdale 1 Macc. vi. 11 Some yt were crepte in to dennes. 1611Bible Jude 4 There are certaine men crept in vnawares. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 195 Mahomet has a little crept among them. 1855Tennyson Maud iii. vi. i, My life has crept so long on a broken wing.
4. The perfect tense was formerly, as in go, come, etc., formed with be to express result: he is cropen or crept in.
c1205–1423 [see 3 α above]. 1534Tindale Jude 4 For ther are certayne craftely crept in. 1545Joye Exp. Dan. vii. iij b, Oute of poore scoles & cloysters are these beggers cropen vp. 1650Earl of Monmouth tr. Senault's Man bec. Guilty 338 As soon as they are crope out from their Spring⁓head. 1706A. Bedford Temple Mus. vii. 151 No Errors are crept into the..Text. 1711Addison Spect. No. 57 ⁋4 That Party-Rage which..is very much crept into their Conversation. a1734[see 3 β].
B. Signification.
1. a. intr. To move with the body prone and close to the ground, as a short-legged reptile, an insect, a quadruped moving stealthily, a human being on hands and feet, or in a crouching posture.
Formerly said of snakes, worms, and other creatures without limbs, for which crawl is now more usual, though in some cases either may be used: see crawl v.
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §4 Oþer næfþ his fota ᵹeweald þæt he mæᵹe gan..and onginþ creopan [Bodl. MS. crypan] on ðone ilcan weᵹ. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 488 (Bosw.) Him comon to creopende fela næddran. c1205Lay. 29313 Þe king him gon crepen an heonden and a futen. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 339 He wende haue cropen [MS. Camb. crepid, Harl. crope] by his felawe Iohn, And by the Millere in he creepe [v.rr. creep, crape, crepede, crept] anon. 1413Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xxxiii. (1483) 82 The serpent..shold..crepe vpon his breste. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 59 Creepe into the Kill-hole. 1611Florio, Carponare, to creepe on all foure. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 213 Land Tortoyses so great that they will creepe with two mens burthens. 1705Berkeley Cave of Dunmore Wks. IV. 509 We were forced to stoop, and soon after creep on our knees. 1735Somerville Chase iii. 146 See there he [the fox] creeps along; his Brush he drags. 1807Robinson Archæol. Græca iii. vi. 227 A person accused creeped on his hands through the fire. 1864Tennyson Aylmer's F. 852 [There] the slow-worm creeps.
†b. Proverbially contrasted with go (= ‘walk’).
c888K. ælfred Boeth. xxxvi. §4 Se biþ mihtiᵹra se ðe gæþ þonne se þe criepð [Bodl. MS. crypþ]. c1400Sowdone Bab. 267 The Dikes were so develye depe..Ouer cowde thai nothir goo nor crepe. c1460Towneley Myst. 114 Kynde wille crepe Where it may not go. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 135 Children must learne to créepe ere they can go. 1663Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. 304 The most imperfect souls, who are not as yet able to go, but only to creep in the way to heaven. 1741Richardson Pamela III. 352 And besides, as the vulgar saying is, One must creep before one goes! 1836Backwoods of Canada 57, I used to hear when I was a boy, ‘first creep and then go!’
†c. to creep to the cross (also to creep the cross): spec. used of the Adoration of the Cross, in the Roman Service for Good Friday. Obs.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 95 Crepe to cruche on lange fridai. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xviii. 428 Ariseth..And crepeth to þe crosse on knees. c1449Pecock Repr. 269 Not as thouȝ thei crepiden thanne & there to noon other thing saue to the Ymage, but that thei aftir her ymaginacioun crepiden to the persoon of Crist. a1500Ratis Raving ii. 129 Nocht our oft creip the corss one kneis. 15..in Boorde Introd. Knowl. (1870) Introd. 92 The Usher to lay a Carpett for the Kinge to Creepe to the Crosse upon. 1554Bale Decl. Bonner's Articles D iv b, To creape to the Crosse on Good Friday featly. 1586–92Warner Alb. Eng. 115 (N.) We kiss the pix, we creepe the crosse, our beades we over⁓runne. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. iii. iii. 73 To come as humbly as they vs'd to creepe To holy Altars. 1630J. Taylor Wks. (N.), Because they would not creepe unto the crosse, And change Gods sacred Word for humane drosse.
2. a. To move softly, cautiously, timorously, or slowly; to move quietly and stealthily so as to elude observation; to steal (into, away, etc.).
c1175Lamb. Hom. 23 And þer beo analpi holh þat an mon mei crepan in. 1393Gower Conf. I. 198 This lady tho was crope a side As she, that wolde her selven hide. c1470Henry Wallace vi. 627 Full law thai crap, quhill thai war out off sicht. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. i. (1586) 6 The Fathers forsaking the Plough..began to creepe into the Toune. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. vii. 146 The whining Schoole-boy..creeping like snaile Vnwillingly to schoole. 1705Addison Italy 9 We here took a little Boat to creep along the Sea-shore as far as Genoa. 1850Tennyson In Mem. vii. 7 Like a guilty thing I creep At earliest morning to the door. 1873Black Pr. Thule xxv. 421 If this wind continues, we can creep up to-morrow to Loch Roag.
b. Of things: To move slowly.
1650Fuller Pisgah ii. x. 214 Where the brook Zorek creeps faintly out of the Tribe of Judah. 1752Young Brothers ii. i, Go, fool, and teach a cataract to creep! 1867Whittier Tent on Beach xxiv, The mists crept upward chill and damp. 1878Huxley Physiogr. 178 The sea-bottom over which the cold water creeps.
c. trans. To introduce gradually; slowly to increase (an amount of light, volume of music, etc.). Const. in. Cf. fade v.1 9.
1949T. Rattigan Harlequinade in Playbill 57 They've crept in numbers two and three [sc. spotlights] too early. 1960N. Kneale Quatermass & Pit iii. 97 Creep in music.
3. fig. (of persons and things).
a. To advance or come on slowly, stealthily, or by imperceptible degrees; to insinuate oneself into; to come in or up unobserved; to steal insensibly upon or over.
c1340Cursor M. 14147 (Trin.) Þat sekenes crepte to heued & fote. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 296 Þise newe ordris, þat ben cropen in wiþ-oute grounde. c1430Hymns Virg. (1867) 84 Now age is cropen on me ful stille. c1430Lydg. Chron. Troy i. i, So ferre he was cropen into age. 1533Q. Cath. Parr tr. Erasm. Commune Crede 74 b, By unlawfull plesure crope in the death and destruction of mankynde. 1565Golding Ovid's Met. vi. (1593) 172 Sleepe upon my carefull carcasse crope. 1647–8Sir C. Cotterell Davila's Hist. Fr. (1678) 19 These opinions..crept up, till they were universally embraced. 1702De Foe Shortest Way w. Dissenters in Arb. Garner VII. 593 How they crope into all Places of Trust and Profit. 1709Steele Tatler No. 61 ⁋1 Among many Phrases which have crept into Conversation. 1837W. Irving Capt. Bonneville I. 250 Despondency began to creep over their hearts. 1869Trollope He Knew liii. (1878) 293 When these sad weeks had slowly crept over her head. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 301 The licence of which you speak very easily creeps in.
b. To move timidly or diffidently; to proceed humbly, abjectly, or servilely, to cringe; to move on a low level, without soaring or aspiring. Cf. creeping ppl. a.
1581Marbeck Bk. of Notes 623 So lowe crope they on the ground, that when they heare the name of the Sabboth, they remember nothing but the seauenth day. 1596Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 614/1 When they are weary of warres..then they creepe a litle perhaps, and sue for grace. 16..Dryden (J.), It is evident he [Milton] creeps along sometimes for above an hundred lines together. 1709Pope Ess. Crit. 347 And ten low words oft creep in one dull line. 1735― Prol. Sat. 333 Wit that can creep, and pride that licks the dust. 1782Cowper Conversation 145 Where men of judgment creep, and feel their way, The positive pronounce without dismay. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, Manners Wks. (Bohn) II. 46 Don't creep about diffidently. 1874Blackie Self-cult. 89 Where aspiration is wanting, the soul creeps.
4. a. Of plants: To grow with the stem and branches extending along the ground, a wall, or other surface, and throwing out roots or claspers at intervals. b. Of roots or subterranean stems: To extend horizontally under ground.
1530Tindale Pract. Prelates Wks. 1849 II. 270 [Ivy] creepeth along by the ground till it find a great tree. 1580Baret Alv. C 1597 To creepe, to run as rootes do in the ground, repo. 1672–3Grew Anat. Plants ii. i. i. §9 The Motions of Roots are..sometimes Level, as are those of Hops..and all such as properly Creep. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 182 Cucumers along the Surface creep. 1717Pope Eloisa 243 Where round some mould'ring tow'r pale ivy creeps. 1837Dickens Pickw. vi, Oh, a dainty plant is the Ivy green, That creepeth o'er ruins old!
†c. Said of the ramification of blood-vessels, etc. Obs. Cf. crawl v. 4.
1668Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xxviii. 67 Those [blood-vessels] which come from above do creep all the womb over. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 97 As they [blood-vessels] creep along the side of the branches [of the horns].
d. fig. To extend like a creeping plant.
1856Stanley Sinai & Pal. ii. (1858) 138 Vineyards creep along the ancient terraces. 1859Jephson Brittany iii. 24 Up this cliff creeps the town, capped by the fine old church.
e. Of a liquid: to spread over or cover a surface as a thin film; esp. (of a salt solution) to rise on the sides of the containing vessel, depositing crystals of the salt; (of the dissolved salt) to be deposited in this way.
1888J. A. Fleming Short Lect. Electr. Artisans (ed. 2) 208 Difficulty sometimes occurs from the gradual ‘creeping’ up of the salts around the stopper. 1900Nature 4 Oct. 562/1 Dr. Trouton gave a short account of his experiments on the creeping of liquids, and on the surface tensions of mixtures. He has found that the tendency of certain liquids to creep up the sides of their containing vessels is due to such liquids being mixtures. 1902W. R. Cooper Prim. Batteries 195 When evaporation of a salt takes place in a glass vessel, crystals form on the vessel near the surface of the solution; and..the crystals grow upwards and finally grow over the top of the vessel. This ‘creeping’, as it is termed, is avoided in Leclanché cells by dipping the tops of the glass pots into ozokerite or paraffin wax. 1909Cent. Dict. Suppl. s.v. Oil-thrower, Oil creeping along the shaft from the journal is thrown off. 1957Encycl. Brit. XIV. 186/2 If an open vessel containing helium II is suspended inside the vacuum flask,..the liquid creeps over the edge, and drops off the bottom of the vessel. 1958J. J. Bikerman Surface Chem. (ed. 2) i. 89 The well-known phenomenon of creeping of solutions or crystal climbing probably involves the relation between surface tension and concentration.
5. a. trans. = creep along or over. rare. (Cf. also creep the cross in 1 c.)
1667Milton P.L. vii. 523 And every creeping thing that creeps the ground. 1727Dyer Grongar Hill 78 Whose ragged walls the ivy creeps. 1738Wesley Hymns, ‘O Thou whose Wisdom’ iii, The meanest Worm that creeps the Earth. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 130 Black clouds crept the southern hill.
b. trans. and intr. To rob (stealthily); to use stealth. Criminals' slang (orig. U.S.).
1914in Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang. 1928M. C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) xxxi. 259 Panelling, or creeping, only carries eighteen months, because the John went to the room of his own accord. 1955P. Wildeblood Against Law iii. 119 You could creep that drum six-handed, with jelly and all, and she'd think it was mice. 1958[see creep n. 1 e].
6. intr. Of the skin or flesh, less usually of the person himself: To have a sensation as of things creeping over the skin; to be affected with a nervous shrinking or shiver (as a result of fear, horror, or repugnance).
a1300Cursor M. 3567 (Cott.) Quen þat [he] sua bicums ald..It crepes crouland in his bak. c1400Rom. Rose 2558 Whanne thou wenest for to slepe, So fulle of peyne shalt thou crepe. 1727Swift Gulliver iii. vii. 223 Something in their countenances that made my flesh creep with a horror I cannot express. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge xvii, You make my hair stand on end, and my flesh creep. 1879G. Meredith Egoist xxviii. (1889) 266 He had such an air of saying ‘Tom's a-cold’, that her skin crept in sympathy. 1882Mrs. Raven's Tempt. I. 310 It makes me quite creep.
7. Naut., etc. To drag with a creeper for anything at the bottom of the water.
1813–14Act 54 Geo. III, c. 159 §10 No person..shall..creep or sweep for anchors [etc.]..supposed to be lost in any of the ports. 1830Marryat King's Own ix, There the cargo is left, until they have an opportunity of going off in boats to creep for it, which is by dragging large hooks at the bottom until they catch the hawser. 1888T. Hardy Wessex Tales II. 143.
8. Of metal rails, etc.: To move gradually forward under the continuous pressure of heavy traffic in the same direction, or as a result of periodical expansion and contraction on a gradient. Also, to increase very gradually in length under excessive stress.
1872W. S. Huntington Road-Master's Assistant (ed. 2) 29 The rails in creeping have a tendency to move towards the foot of the grade. 1885Science V. 344/2 In some places the rails move longitudinally or ‘creep’. On long inclines or grades the track may creep down hill. 1887Engineer LXIV. 9 Now I have the fish bolts loosened I am threatened with a creeping of the line. 1890Daily News 31 Dec. 2/5 The very curious ‘creeping’ action of lead upon a roof was also shown by means of a model... In the experiment the lead, first heated and then cooled, was made to creep a perceptible space. 1899J. A. Ewing Strength Mater. 24 When a load exceeding the elastic limit is applied the strain which occurs at once is followed by a continued ‘creeping’ or supplementary deformation. 1911― in Encycl. Brit. XXV. 1014/1 The elastic limit is the point..at which a tendency to creep is first seen. 1924F. C. Lea in Proc. Inst. Mech. Engin. II. 1053 The problem is to find the safe stress at which the material will not change form or creep. Ibid. 1072 At 11.40 a.m. on the 11th the specimen had crept 0·2 millimetre, but at 11.40 a.m. on the 14th the creeping had ceased. 1955Oxf. Jun. Encycl. VIII. 286/2 Under this smaller but continuous burden the metal gradually deforms or ‘creeps’, and eventually breaks.
9. Coal-mining. To suffer a ‘creep’.
1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 19 The softer the thill, the greater the liability to creep. 1861Trans. N. Eng. Inst. Min. Engineers IX. 24 [It] had evidently brought on a heavy creep as shown on the section of crept bords.
10. Of soil, talus, etc.: to undergo creep (sense 7 a); to move imperceptibly en masse.
1889Geol. Mag. VI. 257 The whole outer layer of the soilcap will..creep slightly downwards. Ibid. 260 The creeping of the soilcap through the action of frost. 1918Econ. Geol. XIII. 609 In many places hillside surficial material seems to be creeping up instead of down—perhaps due to swelling by weathering of the surface portions of certain underlying beds. 1965Hatch & Rastall Petrol. Sedim. Rocks (ed. 4) II. v. 77 If a rock fragment on a slope is moved by its own expansion or that of the pore-water it may be exposed to the pull of gravity. It will then creep slightly downhill.
11. Of a rubber tyre. (Cf. creep n. 9.)
1903Motoring Ann. 300 It is claimed for the Collier tyre that it cannot possibly creep. 1908Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 4/2, I understand that they have a great tendency to creep.
12. Of a belt or rope: to slip or slide backwards on the pulley. (Cf. creep n. 8.)
1922F. V. Hetzel Belt Conveyors 124 A poorly made belt..will creep more and cause more wear than a good belt.
▪ II. creep, n.|kriːp|
[f. the verb.]
1. a. The action of creeping; slow or stealthy motion. (lit. and fig.)
1818Keats Endym. i. 679 Until a gentle creep, A careful moving caught my waking ears. 1842Wordsw. ‘Lyre! though such power’, Or watch..The current as it plays In flashing leaps and stealthy creeps Adown a rocky maze. 1862Thornbury Turner I. 264 There is a fine sense of terror and danger and adventure in Jason's stealthy creep.
†b. Hawking. See quot. Obs.
1486Bk. St. Albans D j b, Yowre hawke fleeth at or to the Creepe when ye haue yowre hawke on yowre fyst and crepe softely to the Ryuer or to the pit, and stelith softeli to the brynke therof, and then cry huff, and bi that meane Nym a fowle.
c. † (a) A creeping fellow; a sneak. dial. Obs. (b) slang (orig. U.S.). A despicable, worthless, stupid, or tiresome person. Cf. creeper 1 b.
a1876E. Leigh Gloss. Cheshire (1877) 52 A Creep.., a creeping fellow. 1886Brierley Cast upon World xviii. 218 His whole get-up so suggestive of what in those days was called a ‘creep’, that I could not help regarding him with additional loathing. 1935Jrnl. Abnormal Psychol. XXX. 362 Creep, a worthless person. 1938New Republic 7 Sept. 129/1 The man..is nothing but a creep. 1951[see charge n. 3 d]. 1954Wodehouse Jeeves & Feudal Spirit i. 7 They were..creeps of the first water and would bore the pants off me. 1958Spectator 9 May 588/3 A pathetic fat city creep comes making eyes at the daughter. 1960H. Pinter Room 117, I get these creeps come in, smelling up my room. 1966Punch 16 Feb. 241 ‘Maurice Thew School of Body-building’? That'll be that phoney creep upstairs.
d. A stealthy robber; a sneak thief; esp. one who works in a brothel. Criminals' slang (orig. U.S.). Cf. creep joint (6).
1914in Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang. 1928M. C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) xxxi. 255, I have been a badger, pay-off, note-layer, creep, panel, and blackmailer. 1960Observer 25 Dec. 7/6 A creep is a highly expert thief... He is so quiet that he can move about a house for hours without waking anybody.
e. Stealthy robbery; petty thieving; esp. in a brothel. So at or on the creep: engaged in stealthy robbery. Also attrib. Criminals' slang (orig. U.S.).
1928M. C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) xxxi. 257 She may decide to shift to the creep or panel game. 1931C. Rimington Bon Voyage Bk. 89/2 At the creep, picking lady's skirt pocket while walking. 1938F. D. Sharpe Flying Squad i. 15 Billy's at ‘the Creep’ means that Billy earns his living stealing by stealth from tills whilst a shop is momentarily unwatched, or from a warehouse. 1958F. Norman Bang to Rights iii. 121 A geezer who got captured while he was out on the creep, he used to go out and creep about all over the place trying to find things to knock off. One of his favourite stokes was creep offices [sic] in the city..during the lunch hour.
2. A sensation as of things creeping over one's body; a nervous shrinking or shiver of dread or horror. Usually in pl., the creeps or cold creeps (colloq.).
1849Dickens Dav. Copp. iii. 29 She was constantly complaining of the cold, and of its occasioning a visitation in her back which she called ‘the creeps’. 1862Lytton Haunted & Haunters in Str. Story (1866) II. 391, I felt a creep of undefinable horror. 1879A. Forbes in Daily News 21 Aug. 5/3 It gives you the creeps all down the small of the back. 1884Athenæum 15 Mar. 340/1.
3. Coal-mining. The slow continuous bulging or rising up of the floor of a gallery owing to the superincumbent pressure upon the pillars. ‘Also any slow movement of mining ground’ (Raymond Mining Gloss. 1881).
1813Ann. Philos. II. 285 The pitmen were proceeding..through the old workings..the proper road being obstructed by a creep. 1867W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 132 The creep..arises when the thill or underclay is soft, and the proportion of pillars to bords such that after a time a downward movement takes place; the pillars then force the clay to rise upwards in the bords. 1867Ann. Reg. 176 He advised that it should be buried in some of the creeps or crevices of some old pit-workings.
4. A low arch under a railway embankment; an opening in a hedge or other enclosure, for an animal to creep or pass through. Cf. creep-hole. Also, an enclosure in which young animals may feed, with an entrance too small to admit the mother. So creep-feed, creep-feeding; creep-feed v.
1819Sporting Mag. IV. 209, I have heard that they [sc. pheasants] of late have been snared in creeps, like hares. 1875W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownsh. 37 A creep for cattle, on the Wigtown Railway. 1884R. Jefferies Red Deer x. 188 Through this hedge [poachers] leave holes, or ‘creeps’, for the pheasants to run through. 1886C. Scott Sheep-Farming 92 To fatten lambs rapidly, the utmost care must be given to their feeding. When folded on green crops they should feed in advance of the ewes, by having ‘creeps’ provided. 1924Chambers's Jrnl. Jan. 49/2 The rabbits have their chosen creeps through the greenery below. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Jan. 63/1 Creep feeding. From the earliest age piglets will take extra feed. Ibid. Apr. 371/3 A creep in which the suckers can feed away from the sow is a necessity. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 16 Feb. 50 The piglets..will already be creep-feeding. Ibid. 22 Mar. 136/2 A suitable creep-feed mixture would be 2 parts cracked beans, 1 part crushed wheat, 3 parts crushed oats, 2 parts ground barley. 1964R. Jeffries Embarrassing Death ii. 18 He could see sheep creep-feeding in one field.
5. = creeper 5.
1889Chamb. Jrnl. Jan. 28/2 Boatmen went to work with creeps or drags to search for the body.
6. attrib. and Comb., as † creep-window (cf. sense 4); (sense 10) creep-rate, creep-resistance, creep-resistant adj., creep-strain, creep-stress, creep-test, creep-testing; creep curve, a curve showing the rate, circumstances, etc. of creep (sense 10); creep joint U.S. slang, (a) a brothel or unwholesome apartment-house, esp. one where patrons are robbed; (b) a gambling-game operating in a different location each night; creep limit, strength, the maximum stress to which material, esp. metal, can be subjected without ‘creep’ (see sense 10). Also creep-hole, creep-mouse.
1931H. J. Tapsell Creep of Metals iii. 31 The form of the creep curve for materials at normal service temperature.
1928M. C. Sharpe Chicago May (1929) ii, New York was full of creep joints at that time [c 1896]. 1930Amer. Mercury Dec. 455/1 Creep-joint, a gambling house that moves to a different apartment each night. 1946Mezzrow & Wolfe Really Blues i. 3 Earned my Ph.D. in more creep joints and speakeasies and dancehalls than the law allows. 1950A. Lomax Mr. Jelly Roll (1952) 50 Creep joints where they'd put the feelers on a guy's clothes.
1940Chambers's Techn. Dict. 208/1 Creep limit.
1931H. J. Tapsell Creep of Metals iii. 31 Ultimate failure of a material would result however small the initial creep rate may be. 1937Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XLI. 378 Cast alloys have better creep resistance than forged. 1947Mech. Engin. LXIX. 273 The scarcity of creep-resistant materials for blades and rotors working at high temperature. 1960Times 16 Mar. (Canberra Suppl.) p. vii/1 The use of high-strength alloy creep-resistant steels for the tubes and supports.
1948Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. LII. 2/2 Strain deviations..are regarded as ‘creep strains’.
1929Tapsell & Remfry (title) The ‘creep’ strength of a ‘high nickel-high chromium steel’, between 600° and 800° C. 1957Times Surv. Brit. Aviation Sept. 27/4 American writers have claimed an increase in creep strength of 20 per cent. by vacuum-melting.
1934Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXVIII. 205 When selecting a light alloy material for aero engine design..it is important to consider the creep stress of the material concerned. Ibid. 408 Magnesium alloys under creep test.
1931H. J. Tapsell Creep of Metals i. 3 The experimental refinements now found necessary in creep-testing.
1664Atkyns Orig. Printing Ded. B j, The least Creep-window robs the whole House; the least Errour in War is not to be redeemed.
7. Geol. (Cf. 3.)
a. A slow, imperceptible movement en masse of soil, talus, etc., usu. downhill under the influence of gravity but freq. with other processes (such as successive freezing and thawing) contributing to the effect.
1889Geol. Mag. VI. 260 The normal rise of the surface particles was about 1/49 of the depth of the frozen soil, and their creep about 1/165 of the same depth. 1897W. B. Scott Introd. Geol. iv. 82 Each freezing causes the fragments to rise slightly..and each thawing produces a reverse movement; hence the slow creep down the slope. 1897[see soil-creep s.v. soil n.1 10]. 1938C. F. S. Sharpe Landslides iii. 21 The general term creep may be defined as the slow down⁓slope movement of superficial soil or rock debris, usually imperceptible except to observations of long duration. 1942C. A. Cotton Geomorphol. (ed. 3) iii. 29 Evidence of creep may be seen where trees and posts have been tilted from the vertical. 1960B. W. Sparks Geomorphol. iv. 47 Rock creep is a movement of jointed blocks, partly as the result of soil creep and partly as a result of sliding. 1966R. Common in G. H. Dury Ess. Geomorphol. 53 Shearing stresses in the material of a slope cause creep when they exceed the ‘fundamental’ shearing resistance.
b. A slow displacement of strata or the earth's crust by expansion or contraction or under compressive forces.
1900[see crust-creep s.v. crust n. 13 b]. 1903T. M. Reade Evol. Earth Struct. ix. 134 The horizontal expansion..will produce, by small increments and minor alterations, a creep, ending in an anticlinal fold. 1906Chamberlin & Salisbury Geol. III. 312 Continental creep along the steep slope between the continental platforms and the oceanic basins. 1942E. M. Anderson Dynamics of Faulting viii. 182 A general ‘creep’ of the surface towards the mountain axis is supposed by others to be an essential part of the process of orogeny. 1964L. U. de Sitter Struct. Geol. (ed. 2) xi. 149 Very accurate geodetic surface measurements across the San Andreas fault..have shown that slow creep at an annual rate of 1 cm does take place along the fault line.
8. The slip of the belt on the pulley drum, or wheel over which it runs.
[1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 95 Creeping, the very slight loss of speed which results when drums are driven by rope gearing, due to the slipping of the rope.] 1909W. C. Unwin Machine Design i. 448 (heading) Creep of belt.
9. A creeping motion between the rim of a wheel and a rubber tyre. Cf. creep v. 11.
1908Westm. Gaz. 5 Mar. 4/3 The rims of the R.W. wheel allow no creep with a properly inflated tyre.
10. The continuous deformation of a material (esp. a metal) under stress, esp. at high temperatures. Cf. creep v. 8.
1924F. C. Lea in Proc. Inst. Mech. Engin. II. 1066 At stresses slightly above this the creep was continuous and the bar broke. Ibid. 1072 It will thus stand a higher stress without creep. 1931H. J. Tapsell Creep of Metals iii. 31 Creep may be defined as the deformation of a material occurring with time under and due to an externally applied stress whether the deformation be of the nature of plastic or of viscous flow. 1943E. G. Couzens in R. S. Morrell Synthetic Resins (ed. 2) xvii. 544 Flow takes place in two stages—creep, which is greatest following elastic deformation, and cold flow. 1952Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. CLXXI. 333/2 In these materials creep was found to be primarily a process of slip in the austenite crystals. 1956Gloss. Terms Concrete (B.S.I.) 16 Creep, a slow inelastic deformation or movement of concrete under stress. 1957Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol. II. 51 Creep, the increase in strain with time due to elastic after-effect and plastic deformation. 1970Fremdsprachen 44 An uncertainty about the effect of creep and shrinkage. |