creepingn.
/ˈkriːpɪŋ/ 1.
a. The action of moving on the ground, as a reptile, or a human being on hands and knees.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving along with hands and feet or with body prone > [noun] > creeping or crawling
creepingc1440
proreption1656
crawling1768
crawl1817
reptation1831
frog-march1880
a700 Epinal Gloss. 696 Obreptione, criopungae.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 101 Crepynge, repcio, reptura.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Rampement..sur terre, a raumping or creeping on the ground.
1813 L. Hunt in Examiner 19 Apr. 242/2 Creepings in dust and wadings through mire.
b. creeping to the cross: see creep v. 1c.
ΚΠ
15.. in A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (1870) Introd. 92 The Order of the Kinge, on Good Friday, touchinge the..creepinge to the Crosse.
1511 Will of John Osborn (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/17) f. 46 At the tyme of the creping of the crosse.
1583 G. Babington Very Fruitfull Expos. Commaundem. ii. 119 With crossings, and creepings, Paxes and Beades.
1924 C. Mackenzie Heavenly Ladder x. 145 The only thing he regretted about this Good Friday was his cowardice over the ceremony of creeping to the Cross.
1957 F. L. Cross Oxf. Dict. Christian Church 1411/2 Veneration of the Cross, a ceremony of the Latin Rite for Good Friday, sometimes also called Creeping to the Cross.
2. transferred and figurative. The action of moving slowly, stealthily, or in a servile manner.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > [noun]
night workOE
stealth1297
surreptionc1400
stouth1513
creeping1565
trunk-worka1616
underdealing1649
stoldred1654
underwork1814
hole-and-cornerism1873
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > stealthy movement > [noun]
stalkingc1000
creeping1565
hedge-creeping1579
stealing1581
steal1590
stealth1600
insinuation1608
slinking1611
sneakinga1657
prowl1803
creep1818
sneak1819
lurk1829
slink1853
pussyfooting1956
1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 153 The creping in of these cancred heresies.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. Introd. Pref. sig. a6 A Writer..in some cases..may be allowed to..forbear Soaring, as well as avoid Creeping.
1736 D. Neal Hist. Puritans III. 463 After great creepings and cringings to Archbishop Laud, he became his creature.
1840 W. M. Thackeray Catherine xi The man was well fitted for the creeping and niggling of his dastardly trade.
3. The sensation as of something creeping on the skin; cf. formication n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > sensation of something creeping on skin > [noun]
pricklea1400
creeping1799
the creeps1849
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [noun] > shudder or shuddering > shiver or the creeps
creeping1799
creep1849
1799 F. Burney Jrnls. & Lett. (1973) IV. 312 Your creepings are surely the effect of over labour of the brain.
1855 F. K. Robinson Gloss. Yorks. Words 40 Creepings, cold shivery sensations.
a1878 B. Taylor Stud. German Lit. (1879) 362 We feel a creeping of the nerves.
4. Dragging with creepers or grapnels.
ΚΠ
1886 Pall Mall Gaz. 7 Sept. 2/1 When they [ironclads] attempted to follow up the clearance effected by creeping and countermining, and to make the passage of the channel.
5. In Canada: Stalking the Moose-deer, etc.
ΚΠ
1869 C. Hardy Forest Life Acadie vi. 134 At the present day the animal [Cariboo] is shot by stalking or ‘creeping’ as it is locally termed, that is, advancing stealthily and in the footsteps of the Indian.
1879 Ld. Dunraven in 19th Cent. July 60 Creeping or ‘still hunting’ as it would be termed in the States is as nearly as possible equivalent to the ordinary deer-stalking.
Compounds
creeping-hole n. = creep-hole n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > refuge or shelter > [noun] > a place of refuge
havenc1225
infleeinga1300
leinda1300
harbourc1300
reseta1325
harbouryc1325
refutec1350
asylec1384
receipta1393
refugec1405
port salut?1407
recept1423
porta1425
receptaclec1425
place (etc.) of refuge?a1439
retreat1481
port haven1509
stelling-place1513
refugie1515
retraict1550
safe haven1555
havening place1563
sanctuarya1568
safe harbour1569
sheepfold1579
subterfuge1593
arka1616
lopeholt1616
latebra1626
asylum1642
creep-hole1646
harbourage1651
reverticle1656
creeping-hole1665
a port in a (also the) storm1714
receptory1856
padded cell1876
funk-hole1900
the world > space > relative position > condition of being open or not closed > an opening or aperture > [noun] > opening which may be passed through > for creeping in and out
creep-hole1646
creeping-hole1665
1665 J. Webb Vindic. Stone-Heng (1725) 204 The Works of greatest Magnificence..this Doctor talks of, extended to no more than..a creeping Hole at best.
1849 Sketches Nat. Hist.: Mammalia IV. 72 Each burrow [of the hamster] has at least two openings, one descends obliquely, the other perpendicularly. The former is termed the ‘creeping-hole’.
creeping-sheet n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Creeping-sheet, the feeding-apron of a carding-machine.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
creepingadj.
/ˈkriːpɪŋ/ 1. That creeps (as a reptile).
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving along with hands and feet or with body prone > [adjective] > creeping or crawling
creepingc1000
go-by-ground?a1300
crawlinga1400
rampinga1500
reptile1607
humiserpent1641
reptant1670
reptitious1742
acrawl1834
c1000 Ælfric Genesis i. 25 And eall creopende cynn on heora cynne.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 19849 All maner crepand beist.
1483 Cath. Angl. 81 A Crepynge beste, reptile.
1611 Bible (King James) Gen. viii. 19 Euery beast, euery creeping thing, and euery fowle. View more context for this quotation
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vii. 452 Cattel and Creeping things, and Beast of the Earth. View more context for this quotation
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 568 The creeping vermin, loathsome to the sight.
2. transferred and figurative.
a. Moving slowly, stealthily, or by imperceptible degrees. Also applied to a flaw or crack in steel.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > stealthy movement > [adjective]
creepinga1400
slyc1440
prowling1546
stealing1574
sneaking1590
cat-footed1598
soft-footed1603
surrepent1608
cat-likea1616
stealthya1616
grassant1659
sliving1661
creep-mouse1766
secret1768
slinking1841
pussy-footed1893
undercreeping1893
pussyfooting1926
slinky1951
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > metal > steel > [adjective] > of flaw in steel: moving slowly
creeping1902
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 3567 Wiþ crepinge croulis in his bake.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. v. sig. E The creeping deadly cold.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 112 The creeping houres of time. View more context for this quotation
1700 J. Dryden tr. G. Boccaccio Sigismonda & Guiscardo in Fables 151 The creeping Death Benum'd her Senses first, then stopp'd her Breath.
1870 R. W. Emerson Farming in Wks. (1906) III. 59 The invisible and creeping air.
1882 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Creeping sickness, a form of chronic Ergotism.
1902 Daily Chron. 1 May 6/3 From an examination of the broken parts a ‘creeping’ flaw was found in the cross-section.
1914 H. Brearley Case-hardening of Steel 110 Such cracks, generally spoken of as ‘creeping cracks’, are not often found in brittle material.
b. Moving timidly or abjectly; acting meanly or servilely; cringing. creeping Jesus, a person who slinks about or hides himself from fear of being ill-treated; an abject, sycophantic, or servile person; one who is hypocritically pious. slang.
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the mind > emotion > humility > servility > [noun] > servile person
clienta1393
snivelard1398
a dog for (also to) the bowc1405
fawnerc1440
snivellerc1450
slave1521
footstool1531
minion1560
footman1567
cringer1582
earthworm1583
yea-sayer1584
croucher1587
creeper1589
sneak-up1598
spaniel1598
sneak-cupa1616
servile1632
puppy dog1651
clientelary1655
lackey1692
groveling1708
prostite1721
prostitute1721
toad-eater1742
groveller1779
cringeling1798
creeping Jesusc1818
toady1826
truckler1827
crawler1847
flunkey1854
doormat1861
dog robber1863
heeler1875
slaveling1884
bootlicker1890
fetch-and-carry1905
poodle1907
yes-woman1927
ass-licker1939
ass-kisser1951
chamcha1966
fart-catcher1971
society > faith > aspects of faith > piety > sanctimoniousness > [noun] > person
Pharisee1539
card gospeller1550
lip-gospeller?1556
saint1563
table-gospeller1570
separatist1620
Christera1650
canter1652
high-liver1715
cant1725
pietist1767
devil dodger1791
goody1816
creeping Jesusc1818
Mawworm1825
goody-two-shoes1843
Pecksniff1844
goody-goody1872
goody-good1879
lip-Christian1882
plaster saint1890
holy Willie1916
a1618 W. Raleigh Instr. to Sonne iii, in Remains (1661) 89 Flatterers..are ever base, creeping, cowardly persons.
1706 tr. J. B. Morvan de Bellegarde Refl. upon Ridicule 112 Others of a mean and creeping Soul.
1769 T. Gray Ode at Installation Duke of Grafton 4 Nor Envy base, nor creeping Gain.
c1818 W. Blake Everlasting Gospel in Wks. (1927) 137 If he [sc. Christ] had been Antichrist, Creeping Jesus, He'd have done any thing to please us.
1827 Blake Lett. in Wks. (1927) 1138 God keep you and me from the divinity of yes and no too—the yea, nay, creeping Jesus.
1854 H. Miller Schools & Schoolmasters xv. 314 The mean vices,—such as theft, and the grosser and more creeping forms of untruthfulness and dishonesty.
1871 G. P. R. Pulman Rustic Sketches (ed. 3) 88 Creeping-jesus, applied to a person who seeks to hide himself in pursuit of sport or otherwise. ‘Jack crawled āāder the weeld ducks lik' a creeping-jesus.’
1934 R. Campbell Broken Rec. 56 The Zulus naturally despise the creeping Jesus type who sucks up to them.
1937 ‘G. Orwell’ Road to Wigan Pier x. 194 The outer-suburban creeping Jesus.
1945 A. Huxley Time must have Stop (new ed.) xxiv. 226 That fool who believed in Gaseous Vertebrates, that creeping Jesus who tried to convert people to his own idiocies!
1966 ‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse 23 Creepin' Jesus, applied to a person who enjoys bad health or constant misfortune; somebody who solicits sympathy by wearing an air of patient martyrdom.
c. creeping barrage n. (Military): see barrage n. and add examples.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > operation and use of weapons > action of propelling missile > discharge of firearms > management of artillery > [noun] > bombardment
battery1548
cannonade1562
cannonading1637
bombarding1687
bomb battery1695
bombardment1702
cannon fire1725
bombard1807
shelling1860
hate1915
barrage1916
box barrage1916
creeping barrage1916
area bombardment1918
area shoot1919
shoot1941
stonk1944
1916 H. W. Yoxall Let. 22 Sept. in Fashion of Life (1966) iv. 32 The creeping barrage which went in front of our assaulting lines was almost geometrically straight, and lifted each time to the second.
1919 G. K. Rose 2/4th Oxf. & Bucks Light Infantry 129 Our methods of attack..consisted, broadly speaking, in the advance of lines of Infantry behind a creeping barrage.
1957 Encycl. Brit. VI. 663/2 The limitation of the standing barrage was that the curtain of shells did not move with the troops; and while a creeping barrage made short bounds of 50 to 100 yards, a jumping barrage made longer ones.
d. creeping paralysis n. locomotor ataxia. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > convulsive or paralytic disorders > [noun] > palsy or paralysis > ataxia or apraxia
Romberg's symptom1870
static ataxia1877
locomotor ataxy1878
Friedreich1883
Romberg's sign1884
apraxia1888
creeping paralysis1913
1913 W. A. N. Dorland Illustr. Med. Dict. (ed. 7) (at cited word) Paralysis.
1925 W. Deeping Sorrell & Son i. 10 He remembered that he had won his M.C. by ‘doing something’ as a protest against the creeping paralysis of intense fear.
1926 H. J. Laski Let. 30 May (1953) II. 843 The miners are still out, and industry, as a result, is afflicted with a kind of creeping paralysis.
1932 Discovery Apr. 112/1 A single glance at the film gives information concerning creeping paralysis (disseminated sclerosis).
1964 G. Durrell Menagerie Manor v. 103 The creeping paralysis, a terrible complaint that attacks principally the New World monkeys.
e. creeping palsy: gradually growing paralysis.
3. Having the sensation of a nervous shiver.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > touch and feeling > sensation of something creeping on skin > [adjective]
creeping1814
creepy1831
crawly1860
creepy-crawlya1893
the mind > emotion > fear > physical symptoms of fear > [adjective] > shuddering with fear > having sensation of shiver
creeping1814
creepy1831
crawly1860
creepy-crawlya1893
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disordered sensation > [adjective]
hyperaesthetic1855
paraesthetic1857
creeping1881
hyperaesthesic1888
allochiral1893
hypoaesthetic1909
Cf. 1340 in 2 a. ]
1814 Ld. Byron Corsair iii. x. 82 So thrill'd—so shuddered every creeping vein.
1815 Ld. Byron From Job i, in Hebrew Melodies 49 Along my bones the creeping flesh did quake.
1881 G. M. Beard Sea-sickness 24 Creeping chills up and down the spine.
4.
a. Of plants: Having a stem or stems which extend themselves horizontally along the surface of the ground, and throw out roots at intervals. It is often popularly applied, instead of ‘climbing’ or ‘clinging’, to plants that cling to and ascend trees, walls, or hedges: cf. creeper n. 4. creeping root, a popular name for a rhizome or subterranean stem that grows horizontally and throws out shoots and roots at the joints, as in Wild Convolvulus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [adjective] > climbing, spreading, or creeping
running1548
spreading1560
flat1578
ramping1578
wandering1590
upcreeping1611
gadding1638
rambling1653
obsequious1657
reptant1657
scansive1657
scansory1657
procumbent1668
repent1669
scandenta1682
supine1686
scrambling1688
creeping1697
sarmentous1721
reptile1727
sarmentose1760
prostrate1773
trailing1785
decumbent1789
travelling1822
vagrant1827
sarmentaceous1830
humifuse1854
sarmentiferous1858
amphibryous1866
humistratous1880
climbing1882
clambering1883
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Creapyng here and there lyke a vyne, errans.]
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Pastorals ix, in tr. Virgil Wks. 43 With..creeping Vines on Arbours weav'd around.
1785 W. Cowper Task iv. 762 The casements lined with creeping herbs.
1807 J. E. Smith Introd. Physiol. & Systematical Bot. 111 I[ris] florentina and I. germanica..have more properly creeping roots.
1810 W. Scott Lady of Lake i. 15 Creeping shrubs of thousand dyes.
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 156 The underground creeping shoots of Pteris aquilina.
b. In the names of many plants with aerial creeping stems, as creeping ivy (the procumbent form of Hedera Helix), creeping Jack, a local name of Sedum acre, creeping Jenny ( Lysimachia Nummularia, and other plants), creeping sailor ( Saxifraga sarmentosa and Sedum acre), creeping wheat ( Triticum repens), etc.; creeping willow, a shrub, Salix repens, native to Europe and Asia.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > corn, cereals, or grain > [noun] > wheat > types of
flaxen wheat?1523
whole wheat1527
tiphe1578
Lammas-wheat1594
frumenty1600
Lammas1677
creeping wheat1819
mummy wheat1842
dinkel1866
marquis1906
durum1908
the world > plants > particular plants > plants perceived as weeds or harmful plants > weed > grasses perceived as weeds > [noun] > couch-grass
quitcheOE
quicka1400
quicken?c1425
couch-grass1578
twitch1588
twitch grass1588
dog grass1597
sea dog's grass1597
quick grass1617
couch1637
wheat-grass1668
scutch1686
quickenings1762
quicken grass1771
spear-grass1784
squitch1785
witchgrass1790
felt1794
dog-wheat1796
creeping wheat1819
quack1822
switch-grass1840
couch-wheat1884
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > tree or shrub groups > willow and allies > [noun] > other types of willow
red willow1547
water willow1583
goat's willow1597
rose willow1597
sweet willow1597
French willow1601
siler1607
palm-withy1609
sallowie1610
swallowtail willow1626
willow bay1650
black willow1670
crack-willow1670
grey willow1697
water sallow1761
almond willowa1763
swallow-tailed willow1764
swamp willow1765
golden osier1772
golden willow1772
purple willow1773
sand-willow1786
goat willow1787
purple osier1797
whipcord1812
Arctic willow1818
sage-willow1846
pussy willow1851
Kilmarnock willow1854
sweet-bay willow1857
pussy1858
palm willow1869
Spaniard1871
ground-willow1875
Spanish willow1875
snap-willow1880
diamond willow1884
sandbar willow1884
pussy palm1886
creeping willow1894
bat-willow1907
cricket bat willow1907
silver willow1914
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 683 Creeping Mouse-ear. Mouse-ear Hawkweed.
1816 P. Keith Syst. Physiol. Bot. I. 45 The common Creeping Cinquefoil.
1819 W. C. Wentworth Statist., Hist., & Polit. Descr. New S. Wales 91 The creeping wheat, however, may be sown in the commencement of February.
1819 W. C. Wentworth Statist., Hist., & Polit. Descr. New S. Wales 92 To the farmer..who keeps large flocks of sheep, the cultivation of the creeping wheat is highly advantageous; since in addition to its yielding as great a crop as any other species of wheat, it supersedes the necessity of growing..food for the support of his stock.
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. VI. 124 Creeping Wheat, or Couch~grass.
1882 Garden 12 Aug. 138/2 The common Money~wort, or Creeping Jenny as it is called.
1894 W. Robinson Wild Garden (ed. 4) xvi. 262 Dwarf willows..such as the Creeping Willow in its various forms, and the Woolly Willow, a dwarf silvery shrub.
1952 A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 434 [Salix] repens ‘Creeping Willow’, to 3 ft., Britain, Europe, Asia.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a700adj.c1000- heterotrophic
- heterotrophically
- heterotrophies
- heterotrophism
- high-rise
- high-riser
- high-rises
- high-rising
- high-risk
- high-rolling
- high-roofed
- high-running
- high-scoring
- high-seasoned
- high-seated
- high-security
- high-set
- high-shod
- high-shoed
- high-shoon
- high-shoon-man
- high-shouldered
- high-sided
- high-sighted
- high-sign