HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key.

Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window.

guide to the dictionary

creep

(krēp)

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

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

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.

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.

[Middle English crepen, from Old English crēopan.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

American Heritage Dictionary Products

HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY

THE USAGE PANEL

AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG

INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES?

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

American Heritage Dictionary Products