seep

American  

[seep] / sip /

verb (used without object)

• seeps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• seeped,
  past participle,  past
• seeping
  present participle

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)

• seeps,
  present (3rd person singular)
• seeped,
  past participle,  past
• seeping
  present participle

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

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• seeping
  present
• seeped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• seep
  simple
• seeps
  simple
• have seeped
  perfect
• has seeped
  perfect
• am seeping
  progressive
• are seeping
  progressive
• is seeping
  progressive
• have been seeping
  perfect progressive
• has been seeping
  perfect progressive

Past

• seeped
  simple
• had seeped
  perfect
• was seeping
  progressive
• were seeping
  progressive
• had been seeping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will seep
  simple
• will have seeped
  perfect
• will be seeping
  progressive
• will have been seeping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of seep

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

Explanation

Seep means to leak slowly. When you see the word, imagine water coming in through your sneakers on a rainy day. It's not a lot of water, but your feet still get pretty wet. The word seep is related to the Dutch word for ooze. Oil seeps from the earth and blood seeps from a wound. Seep falls somewhere between gush and drip on a scale of how liquid flows and suggests a liquid that is thick, and unwanted. In the figurative sense, some things that seep, like bad thoughts that seep into your mind, are also unwanted. But sometimes you wish that the flow would increase like when financial aid only seeps into a disaster zone.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

seep seeps seeped seeping

And not just in U.S. stocks; AI’s impact on the investment landscape has started to seep into other markets like credit and emerging markets.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

Here, Fennell asserts that rape culture is our culture, that patriarchy and misogyny seep through the cracks of every single surface.

From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026

This time around, Karol G released “BbY Wow” at the tail end of July, allowing it just enough time to seep into the brains of all its listeners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026

At the same time, groundwater and rainwater that seep underground must be collected and pumped back to the surface.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026

I felt the cold pierce my bones, cut off the circulation in my hands, and seep into my soul.

From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende

In the birthplace of Venezuela's oil industry, thick black crude seeps through cracks in the earth, and the air is heavy with the smell of gas, leaving visitors dizzy.

From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026

“Practical Magic 2” is the story of an ancient recurring curse: the lack of originality that infests Hollywood like the frosty cloud that seeps into Regan’s bedroom in “The Exorcist.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

"The situation with low flows can be exacerbated because of lock misuse, plus the ageing nature of the canal network, where water naturally seeps away from the canal," the statement continued.

From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026

Researchers also found evidence that seawater seeps deep into these fractured zones.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026

The light breeze that we’d gotten used to in Asamando is now a full-on wind, growling at us as it seeps through the branches.

From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer

It just seeped into me: a lady willing to take her three boys down to demonstrate, fight in the suburbs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

But with power cuts and labour shortages crippling production capacity, the impact of the war has seeped into the daily reality at Chizay, one of the country's most well known producers.

From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026

The gleeful melodies of the church choir practicing next door seeped in.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

He says has seen at least five other cooks die in front of him, and believes this is because the substances they were handling seeped through gaps in their protective clothing.

From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026

The rain was so much colder now and the damp seeped through our clothes.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff

An EA investigation has found the pollution is contained within an area of the beach near the Hole in the Wall, where it is seeping into the sand through contaminated groundwater.

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

And there is growing evidence that those pressures are seeping into broader rises in the price of all kinds of other goods.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Another 39 homes saw water seeping in below the floorboards.

From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026

Seal up air leaks: Inexpensive weatherstripping and caulking around leaky doors and windows stop hot air from seeping in and forcing your AC to run longer.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 29, 2026

The dead patch spread outward, as if poison were seeping from the soles of his shoes.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Related Words

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