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(krp), v. t.[imp.Crept (krpt) (Crope (krp), Obs.); p. p.Crept; p. pr. & vb. n.Creeping.] [OE. crepen, creopen, AS. crepan; akin to D. kruipen, G. kriechen, Icel. krjupa, Sw. krypa, Dan. krybe. Cf. Cripple, Crouch.] 1. To move along the ground, or on any other surface, on the belly, as a worm or reptile; to move as a child on the hands and knees; to crawl. Ye that walk The earth, and stately tread, or lowly creep. Milton. 2. To move slowly, feebly, or timorously, as from unwillingness, fear, or weakness. The whining schoolboy . . . creeping, like snail, Unwillingly to school. Shak. Like a guilty thing, I creep. Tennyson. 3. To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or one's self; as, age creeps upon us. The sophistry which creeps into most of the books of argument. Locke. Of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women. 2 Tim. iii. 6. 4. To slip, or Creep n. 1. The act or process of creeping. 2. A distressing sensation, or sound, like that occasioned by the creeping of insects. A creep of undefinable horror. Blackw. Mag. Out of the stillness, with gathering creep, Like rising wind in leaves. Lowell. 3. (Mining) A slow rising of the floor of a gallery, occasioned by the pressure of incumbent strata upon the pillars or sides; a gradual movement of mining ground. スポンサード リンク
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