Creeper
noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A person or a thing that crawls or creeps.
"Standing Waters[…] are most unwholesome, putrified, and full of mites, creepers, slimy, muddy, uncleane, corrupt, impure, by reason of the Suns heat, and still standing;"
- 2 any of various small insectivorous birds of the Northern Hemisphere that climb up a tree trunk supporting themselves on stiff tail feathers and their feet wordnet
- 3 Any creeping animal (such as a serpent), reptile.
- 4 a person who crawls or creeps along the ground wordnet
- 5 A one-piece garment for infants designed to facilitate access to the wearer's diaper. in-plural, often
Show 16 more definitions
- 6 any plant (as ivy or periwinkle) that grows by creeping wordnet
- 7 A device which allows a small child to safely roam around a room from a seated or standing position.
- 8 A metal plate with spikes, designed to be worn with shoes to prevent slipping.
- 9 A spur-like device strapped to the boot to facilitate climbing.
- 10 A small low iron, or dog, between the andirons. in-plural
- 11 An instrument with iron hooks or claws for dredging up items from a well or other water.
- 12 Any device for causing material to move steadily from one part of a machine to another, such as an apron in a carding machine, or an inner spiral in a grain screen.
- 13 Any plant (as ivy or periwinkle) that grows by creeping, especially a climbing plant of the genus Parthenocissus.
"Then the piglet tore loose from the creepers and scurried into the undergrowth."
- 14 A treecreeper.
- 15 Strophitus undulatus, a freshwater mussel of the eastern United States.
- 16 A small four-hooked grapnel used to recover objects dropped onto the sea bed.
- 17 The lowest gear of some tractors or trucks: one with so low a gear ratio that the vehicle creeps along at the speed of a human's slow walk.
"Throwing it in creeper and then getting out to work alongside is strictly forbidden because it is too dangerous if anything goes wrong."
- 18 A low-profile wheeled platform whereupon one may lie on one's back and gain better access to the roof of a space with very low height (such as the underbody of a vehicle), or a low stool similarly wheeled.
"If my phone rings while I'm on a creeper underneath the car with oil on my hands, well, the caller will just have to leave a voicemail."
- 19 A person who creeps people out; a creepy person. derogatory, slang
"Don't go to a nightclub to find a boyfriend. They're all creepers there."
- 20 A kind of shoe, usually with a suede upper and a thick crepe sole, associated with various 20th-century subcultures.
- 21 A ball that travels low, near ground level.
"May joined Hutton and proceeded to play masterly cricket in which the straight-drive predominated. There was always the possibility that he might be trapped by a creeper, but May watched the ball intently."
Example
More examples"Hey, it's about time you quit it with the panty jokes. You'll put off the readers, you creeper!"
Etymology
From Middle English crepere, from Old English crēopere, equivalent to creep + -er. Slang usage derived from phrase give the creeps or creep out (distinct from merely one who creeps).
Related phrases
More for "creeper"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.