creepern.
/ˈkriːpə/, U.S. /ˈkripər/ 1. † c. slang. A ‘penny-a-liner’; see quot.
a. One who creeps. (In quot. 1883, a child too young to walk.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving along with hands and feet or with body prone > [noun] > creeping or crawling > one who or that which
creeperc1440
crawler1649
a1000 Glostr. Frag. 12. 17 (Bosw.) Seo ealde cyrce wæs eall behangen mid criccum and mid creopera sceamelum.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 101 Crepere, or he þat crepythe, reptor.
1556 J. Heywood Spider & Flie lx. 35 A creper with spiders, and a flier with flise.
1682 T. Otway Venice Preserv'd v. 63 All us little creepers in 't, call'd men.
1883 J. Parker Apostolic Life II. 256 The door must not be shut..until the last little creeper has been brought in and sat at the Father's table.
b. figurative. One who moves stealthily, timidly, or abjectly, or proceeds in a mean and servile way.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > humility > servility > [noun] > servile person
clienta1393
snivelard1398
a dog for (also to) the bowc1405
fawnerc1440
snivellerc1450
slave1521
footstool1531
minion1560
footman1567
cringer1582
earthworm1583
yea-sayer1584
croucher1587
creeper1589
sneak-up1598
spaniel1598
sneak-cupa1616
servile1632
puppy dog1651
clientelary1655
lackey1692
groveling1708
prostite1721
prostitute1721
toad-eater1742
groveller1779
cringeling1798
creeping Jesusc1818
toady1826
truckler1827
crawler1847
flunkey1854
doormat1861
dog robber1863
heeler1875
slaveling1884
bootlicker1890
fetch-and-carry1905
poodle1907
yes-woman1927
ass-licker1939
ass-kisser1951
chamcha1966
fart-catcher1971
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > stealthy action, stealth > stealthy movement > [noun] > one who moves stealthily
mitchera1500
prowler1519
creeper1589
pussyfoot1907
slinker1919
pussyfooter1923
1589 G. Puttenham Arte Eng. Poesie iii. xxiv. 245 Sometimes a creeper, and a curry fauell with his superiours.
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Insinuatore, a craftie slie creeper into ones bosome, fauor or minde.
a1626 W. Rowley Birth of Merlin (1662) sig. E4 A gilded rascal, a low-bred despicable creeper.
1631 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentlewoman 159 They were..no strutters in the street, but despicable Creepers.
1811 C. Lamb Theatralia in Reflector 2 303 The servilest creeper after nature that ever consulted the palate of an audience.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > journalism > journalist > [noun] > penny-a-liner
creeper1824
penny-a-liner1832
liner1861
1824 W. Irving Tales of Traveller I. 241 A creeper is one who furnishes the newspapers with paragraphs at so much a line.
1826 T. H. Lister Granby (ed. 2) III. xix. 302 Persons, called, in the slang of the trade ‘creepers’, whose business it is to prowl about collecting incidents for the newspapers.
d. plural (a) The feet; (b) shoes with soft soles. Also attributive (in singular). Cf. brothel-creeper n. slang (originally U.S.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > the body > external parts of body > limb > extremities > foot > [noun] > as organ of locomotion
footeOE
bayard of ten toesc1520
walker1832
stepper1853
creepers1889
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > with specific types of sole > soft sole > shoes
creepers1889
brothel-creeper1948
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > [adjective] > with sole > with specific type of sole
corked1519
single-soled1541
well-soled1663
thick-soled1815
crêpe-soled1935
platform-soled1938
wedge-soled1939
creepers1961
Vibram-soled1963
1889 A. Barrère & C. G. Leland Dict. Slang I. 280/1 Creepers..(American), the feet.
1904 ‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 247 Creepers, soft shoes worn by burglars, sneak-thieves and prison guards.
1924 G. C. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 402 Creepers, rubber-soled shoes. Also called sneaks.
1951 Sunday Pictorial 29 Oct. Fancy shoes with thick crepe-rubber wedge soles which are known to connoisseurs as ‘creepers’.
1955 E. Blishen Roaring Boys iv. 210 He pointed to my shoes, which were new and crape-soled. ‘They're creepers... Real up-to-the-minute yobo's thick~soled creepers.’
1961 M. Dickens Heart of London i. 67 The two-inch soles of their ‘creeper’ shoes.
2.
a. An animal that creeps, a creeping thing, an insect or reptile; spec. (in vernacular speech) a louse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by locomotion > [noun] > that creeps
wormc893
reptilea1393
serpentc1440
creeper1577
crawler1649
creepy-crawly1858
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Insecta > subclass Pterygota > [noun] > division Exopterygota or Hemimetabola > group Anoplura > order Siphunculata > member of genus Pediculus (louse)
lousec725
mysea1450
creeper1577
Welsh cricket1592
crawler1787
liceling1791
greyback1840
seam-squirrel1899
toto1918
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iii. f. 147v You shalbe sure to haue neyther Myte, nor Creeper in your Cheese.
1609 Bible (Douay) I. Gen. vii. 21 Al creepers, that creepe upon the earth.
1651 Miller of Mansf. 8 Hast any Creepers within thy gay Hose?
1671 tr. A. de Courtin Rules Civility vi. 58 'Tis unbecoming..to scratch..as if they were Creepers upon our backs.
1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 183 A mounted gendarme would probably disdain to pursue a creeper.
b. Angling. The larva of the Stone-fly.
ΚΠ
1867 F. Francis Bk. Angling vii. 232 The crab or creeper is the larva of the stone fly.
c. Poultry-rearing. ‘One of a breed of fowls with legs so short that they jump rather than walk’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > genus Gallus (domestic fowl) > [noun] > types of
rumpkin1676
bantam1749
Jersey blue1758
Dorking1779
Plymouth Rock1806
Java1813
shack-bag1816
Negro fowl1835
creeper1847
Minorca1848
cuckoo fowl1850
Leghorn1850
Brahmapootra1851
Ancona1853
shanghai1853
Andalusian1854
Bolton bay1854
Corsican cock1854
jacinth1854
Minorca1854
spangle1854
yellow leg1854
Crèvecœur1855
sultan1855
Hamburg1857
Leghorn1857
Yokohama1865
Houdan1871
Langshan1871
Wyandot1881
sultan hen1882
silkie1885
Orpington1887
rock1889
silver-grey1889
Campine1892
Rhode Island Red1893
Faverolles1902
Rhode Island White1905
Malines1906
Rhode Island1914
Australorp1922
maranc1934
1847 W. B. Dickson Poultry 15 The Dwarf Fowl, or Creeper (Gallus Bankiva, S. pumilio, Temminck, Le Coq Nain, Buffon).
1849 D. J. Browne Amer. Poultry Yard (1855) 71 Creepers, so called from the shortness of their legs..are rather to be considered as accidental deformities collected from unhealthy families of Bantams.
1885 in C. Annandale Imperial Dict.
3. A name given to many small birds, of different families, which run or climb up and down the branches of trees and bushes; esp. the common Brown Creeper or Tree-creeper, Certhia familiaris.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > defined by habitat > [noun] > land-bird > living in trees, woods, or hedges
sylvan1612
forester1630
creeper1661
hedge-bird1884
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. A5 Birds..not melodious; as the..witwal,..creeper, wren.
1674 J. Ray Catal. Eng. Birds 84 The Creeper or Ox-eye Creeper.
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 82 The creeper..next to the crested wren is the lest of the British birds.
1863 H. W. Bates Naturalist on River Amazons I. vii. 345 Many pretty little blue and green creepers of the Dacnidæ group, were daily seen feeding on berries.
1882 Hist. Berwickshire Naturalists' Club 9 553 No Gold-crests or Creepers, and rarely any Wrens were seen.
4.
a. A plant that creeps along the ground, or (more usually) one that ascends a supporting surface, as ivy and the Virginian Creeper ( Ampelopsis hederacea); a climber.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [noun] > creeping, climbing, or spiring > creeping or climbing plant
wind1538
clamberer1597
creeper1626
winder1626
climber1640
convolvula1675
vine1708
runner1731
parasite1813
groundling1822
twiner1830
scrambler1902
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §536 They are Winders and Creepers; as Ivy, Briony, Hops, Woodbine.
1712 J. Browne tr. P. Pomet et al. Compl. Hist. Druggs I. 31 This Plant is a Creeper, and twines or lashes itself round any Tree that is near it.
1721 R. Bradley Philos. Acct. Wks. Nature 37 The Ivy, and Virginia Creeper.
1818 J. Keats Endymion ii. 73 The creeper, mellowing for an autumn blush.
1860 P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 60 Primeval labyrinths of giant trees, tangled with ten thousand creepers.
b. (plural) Architecture. ‘Leaves or clusters of foliage used in Gothic edifices to ornament the angles of spires, pinnacles, and other parts; crochets’.
ΚΠ
1864 in Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang.
5. A kind of grapnel used for dragging the bottom of the sea or other body of water.In first quot. apparently used of a grappling-iron.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > other specific types of equipment > [noun] > equipment for use on seabed
creeper?a1400
tangle1882
creep1889
Petersen grab1923
snapper grab1925
sled1939
piston sampler1946
piston core sampler1947
piston corer1954
hydrocast1960
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > grappling-hook
creeper?a1400
clasp1552
crow1553
cramp-iron1565
corvy1584
?a1400 Morte Arth. 3667 Cogge appone cogge, krayers and oþer, Castys crepers one crosse als to þe crafte langes.
c1540 J. Bellenden tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. ix. xx. f. 126/1 He perist in Lochtay... His body was found be creparis.
1730 W. Wriglesworth MS. Log-bk. of ‘Lyell’ 24 July We sweaped with a Creeper for the Hawser, which we got hold of.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Creeper, an instrument of iron resembling a grappling, having a shank and four hooks or claws... It is used to throw into the bottom of any river..to hook and draw up any thing..lost.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Creepers..2. Grapnels to bring up any thing from the bottom of a well or pond.
1875 J. C. Wilcocks Sea-fisherman (ed. 3) 40 The Grapnel or Creeper Sinker is much used off Dartmouth..on account of the strength of the tidal currents..These creepers have five claws.
1879 T. Hardy Distracted Preacher in New Q. Mag. Apr. 349 They'll go out in a boat and drag a creeper — that's a grapnel — along the bottom till it catch hold of the stray-line.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > heat > heating or making hot > that which or one who heats > [noun] > a device for heating or warming > devices for heating buildings, rooms, etc. > hearth or fireplace > andiron or fire-dog
brandisec1000
andirona1300
brandiron1381
brandreth1400
landiron1459
dog iron1534
creeper1556
dog1587
glim-fenders1699
fire dog1751
1556 Inv. Goods in Archæol. XXXVI. 289 A payre of crepers.
1565 in J. Raine Wills & Inventories Archdeaconry Richmond (1853) 178 j. olde brandrethe..j. iron creper.
1629 Inventory Hatfield Priory in Trans. Essex Archæol. Soc. (1889) New Ser. 3 167 i pr creepers, fire shovell & tonges.
1661 W. Prynne Short Exam. Exuberances Common Prayer 106 The little Creepers, not the great Brass shining Andirons, bear up all the wood, and heat of the fire.
1833 J. Holland Treat. Manuf. Metal II. 162 The andirons proper..and what were denominated creepers, a smaller sort, with short necks or none at all.
7. local.
a. A kind of patten or clog worn by women.
ΚΠ
1721 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. Creepers, a sort of Galoshes, between Clogs and Pattens, worn by Women.
b. A piece of iron with points or spikes, worn under the feet to prevent slipping on ice, etc.
ΚΠ
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Creepers, 1. Low pattens mounted on short iron stumps, instead of rings.
1860 J. R. Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (ed. 3) Creepers, pieces of iron, furnished with sharp points and strapped under the feet, to prevent one falling when walking upon ice.
1887 Newcastle Weekly Chron. 1 Jan. 4 Ice-creepers are now on sale in certain shops of Newcastle.
8. = creep n. 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > by habitat > habitat > [noun] > gap through which animal passes
meuse1523
creeper1845
creep1875
pop-hole1878
1845 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 6 i. 189 That..lambs may..have more liberty, and pick out the shortest and sweetest of the keep, I have ‘creepers’ placed to enable them to do so.
9.
a. An apparatus for conveying grain in corn-mills, a conveyor.
ΚΠ
1847 Engineer & Machinist's Assistant Descr. Plates 92 The creeper..constructed by Mr. Fairbairn.
1865 W. Fairbairn Treat. Mills (ed. 2) ii. 140 The creeper consists of a long enclosed screw with a wide pitch and projecting thin threads enclosed in a wooden box or trough.
b. An endless moving feeding-apron, in a carding-machine.
10. A small iron frying pan with three legs; also called a spider. (U.S. local.)
ΚΠ
1880 in Webster's Dict. Suppl.
11. A pupil in the tea-planting trade, esp. in Ceylon.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > cultivation of specific crops > [noun] > tea > tea-planter > learner
creeper1893
1893 Field 8 Apr. 510/3 ‘Creepers’, as they are called, are constantly coming out to learn tea.
1894 Standard 2 Jan. 5 A ‘creeper’, it seems, is the technical term for a pupil whose parents pay a high premium to have him taught the art and mystery of tea-planting in Ceylon.
1921 F. Hamilton Here, There & Everywhere ii. 48 [In Ceylon] Planters are divided locally into three categories: the managers,..the assistants,..and the premium-pupils, known as ‘creepers’.
1931 E. Sutton tr. Fauconnier Soul of Malaya i. iii. 30 The conceit of these blasted little creepers!
12. Cricket. A ball which keeps low after pitching.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > bowling > [noun] > a ball bowled > types of delivery or ball
full toss1826
long hop1830
twister1832
bail ball1833
bailer1833
grubber1837
slow ball1838
wide1838
ground ball1839
shooter1843
slower ball1846
twiddler1847
creeper1848
lob1851
sneak1851
sneaker1851
slow1854
bumper1855
teaser1856
daisy-cutter1857
popper1857
yorker1861
sharpshooter1863
headball1866
screwball1866
underhand1866
skimmerc1868
grub1870
ramrod1870
raymonder1870
round-armer1871
grass cutter1876
short pitch1877
leg break1878
lob ball1880
off-break1883
donkey-drop1888
tice1888
fast break1889
leg-breaker1892
kicker1894
spinner1895
wrong 'un1897
googly1903
fizzer1904
dolly1906
short ball1911
wrong 'un1911
bosie1912
bouncer1913
flyer1913
percher1913
finger-spinner1920
inswinger1920
outswinger1920
swinger1920
off-spinner1924
away swinger1925
Chinaman1929
overspinner1930
tweaker1938
riser1944
leg-cutter1949
seamer1952
leggy1954
off-cutter1955
squatter1955
flipper1959
lifter1959
cutter1960
beamer1961
loosener1962
doosra1999
1848 Punch Almanack May–June Till some ‘ripper’ or ‘creeper’ gives the great wicket-keeper A chance.
1927 Daily Tel. 14 June 6/1 A ‘creeper’ from Larwood got rid of Twining.
1963 Times 17 May 4/5 Ormrod had to deal with three astonishing creepers from the lively Arnold.
Compounds
C1. In sense 4, as creeper-clad, creeper-covered adjs.
ΚΠ
1884 G. Allen Philistia I. 292 His pretty latticed creeper-clad window.
1888 Daily News 25 June 6/3 The cool woods and creeper-covered rocks.
C2.
creeper bridge n. = creeper rope n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > bridge of specific materials
tree-bridge1596
pole bridge1785
clapper bridge1793
sangha1814
creeper rope1894
creeper bridge1909
1909 Westm. Gaz. 30 Dec. 5/4 We finally managed to get another creeper bridge between the island and the opposite bank, and hauled the women and children to a place of safety.
creeper chain n. Mining an endless chain fitted with grips or hooks for traction of mine-cars, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > mining equipment > [noun] > vehicle for underground haulage or transportation > rail or guide for
convoy1754
slipe1860
creeper chain1892
1892 H. W. Hughes Text-bk. Coal-mining 383 No better appliance has been introduced for minimising the cost of conveying tubs about the heapstead than that known as the ‘finger’ or ‘creeper’ chain... It consists of an endless chain travelling under the tubs, provided at intervals with vertical projecting pieces of iron fastened to the links.
creeper rope n. a bridge or rope of twisted creepers stretched across a tropical river.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > other means of passage or access > [noun] > bridge > bridge of specific materials
tree-bridge1596
pole bridge1785
clapper bridge1793
sangha1814
creeper rope1894
creeper bridge1909
1894 Westm. Gaz. 16 Jan. 5/3 A creeper rope tied from bank to bank.
Derivatives
ˈcreepered adj. having (Virginia) creeper growing on the walls.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [adjective] > climbing, spreading, or creeping > having or not having creeping plants
creepered1894
creeperless1904
1894 Pall Mall Gaz. 20 July 3/3 Down in the hollow is a glimpse of the creepered farmhouse.
1906 J. Galsworthy Man of Prop. i. vii The creepered trellis round the garden.
1921 J. Galsworthy To Let iii. ix The moonlight..fell..on the windows of the creepered house.
1938 L. MacNeice Earth Compels 21 A chart of tropic Swamp and twilight Of creepered curtains.
ˈcreeperless adj. without such a creeper.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by habit > [adjective] > climbing, spreading, or creeping > having or not having creeping plants
creepered1894
creeperless1904
1904 H. G. Wells Food of Gods i. ii. §1 The little house was creeperless.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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