Synonyms

creeps

American

[kreeps] / krips /

noun

(used with a singular verb)

Veterinary Pathology. a disease of the bones in sheep and cattle that causes pain in walking, resulting from a deficiency of phosphorus in the diet.

creeps British

/ kriːps /

plural noun

informal a feeling of fear, repulsion, disgust, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of creeps

So called from the effect on the animal's gait; creep, -s ³

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s when she says that, that a new understanding of my reality creeps into place — one that I know Dad wouldn’t want me to know about.

From Literature

Evening creeps into the quiet, foggy hours of midnight.

From Literature

For a few, doubt creeps in, but most overcome their cognitive dissonance and reinflate the bubble of credulity that constitutes their comfort zone.

From Salon

This is still a relatively small number but Salesforce’s agent trajectory is an important metric as enterprise AI adoption creeps higher.

From Barron's

Fittingly, the sound creates a crack in one of the home’s windows: Via that fissure, the unfolding apocalypse creeps into their lives.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023