seep

American  

[seep] / sip /

verb (used without object)

1. to pass, flow, or ooze gradually through a porous substance.

   Water seeps through cracks in the wall.

2. (of ideas, methods, etc.) to enter or be introduced at a slow pace.

   The new ideas finally seeped down to the lower echelons.

3. to become diffused; permeate.

   Fog seeped through the trees, obliterating everything.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cause to seep; filter.

   The vodka is seeped through charcoal to purify it.

noun

1. moisture that seeps out; seepage.

2. a small spring, pool, or other place where liquid from the ground has oozed to the surface of the earth.

seep British  

/ siːp /

verb

1. (intr) to pass gradually or leak through or as if through small openings; ooze

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noun

1. a small spring or place where water, oil, etc, has oozed through the ground

2. another word for seepage

Etymology

Origin of seep

1780–90; perhaps variant of dial. sipe, itself perhaps continuing Old English sīpian (cognate with Middle Low German sīpen )

Example Sentences

And with that, a relatively new acronym will begin to seep into our consciousness, Mr Phillips predicts.

From BBC

When cracks grow large enough, liquid electrolyte can seep inside.

From Science Daily

New technology doesn’t merely seep into the economy, eventually it grows into a Category 5 storm and starts tearing up trailer parks in its path.

From The Wall Street Journal

"You have an entire landscape of uncertainty and vulnerability and you have this 1,000-year-old tapestry of spells and medicines and occult knowledge that just has seeped into the Burmese consciousness."

From Barron's

Economists have also been worried about price increases seeping from goods into services, which cover amenities like haircuts, daycare, airfares, car insurance and more.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bleed
• drain
• flow
• ooze
• percolate
• permeate
• soak
• trickle