creep up on

Idioms  

1. Advance slowly or stealthily, as in The cat crept up on the bird, or Autumn is creeping up on us. This expression is recorded in slightly different form——from the 15th century on. One of the Hymns to the Virgin and Christ (c. 1430) has “Now age has cropen [crept] up on me ful stille.”

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Example Sentences

You can combine goal-setting with a little planning, so expenses are less likely to creep up on you throughout the year.

From Seattle Times

The Nord Stream attack has been a wartime mystery, prompting finger-pointing and speculation about how — in an era of constant satellite surveillance, in the midst of an energy crisis and with Europe on alert because of the war in Ukraine — a vessel could creep up on a crucial energy conduit, plant a bomb and leave without a trace.

From New York Times

In a theater, where sounds creep up on them, the experience will be great.

From Washington Post

The problems of old age are starting to creep up on us.

From Washington Post

“You’ve got to talk about what you’re feeling because if you don’t and you’re holding anything back, that’s when it can really creep up on you and you never know what can happen.”

From Seattle Times