verb (used without object),sneaked or snuck,sneak·ing.
to go in a stealthy or furtive manner; slink; skulk.
to act in a furtive or underhand way.
BritishInformal. to tattle; inform.
verb (used with object),sneaked or snuck,sneak·ing.
to move, put, pass, etc., in a stealthy or furtive manner: He sneaked the gun into his pocket.
to do, take, or enjoy hurriedly or surreptitiously: to sneak a cigarette.
noun
a sneaking, underhand, or contemptible person.
Informal. a stealthy or furtive departure.
BritishInformal. tattletale; informer.
sneaker (def. 1).
Informal. a sneak preview.
Cards. the lead of a singleton in a suit other than the trump suit, as in whist.
Origin of sneak
1590–1600; variant of Middle English sniken,Old English snīcan “to creep”; cognate with Old Norse snīkja “to hanker after”
SYNONYMS FOR sneak
1 steal.
SEE SYNONYMS FOR sneak ON THESAURUS.COM
synonym study for sneak
1. See lurk.
usage note for sneak
First recorded in writing toward the end of the 19th century in the United States, snuck has become in recent decades a standard variant past tense and past participle of the verb sneak : Bored by the lecture, he snuck out the side door.Snuck occurs frequently in fiction and in journalistic writing as well as on radio and television: In the darkness the sloop had snuck around the headland, out of firing range. It is not so common in highly formal or belletristic writing, where sneaked is more likely to occur. Snuck is the only spoken past tense and past participle for many younger and middle-aged persons of all educational levels in the U. S. and Canada. Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded.
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Rick suggests a Woodbury-esque sneak attack on the hospital and lays out a meticulous strategy relying heavily on timing and luck.
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“It was a magical feeling, leaving daylight to sneak into a theater,” he says wistfully.
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The easily concealable and muted weapon would allow him to sneak up on his victims and get away afterward to kill again.
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She thought Alice a bit of a sneak, an opinion her brothers shared, and Gwen rather a snatch at meals.
Ann Veronica|H. G. Wells
He will sneak along the edge of the pillow and rub his hands together in front of him, and then he's ready.
A Melody in Silver|Keene Abbott
There were a few minutes of silence, and then the sneak came back and dropped into his chair.
The Putnam Hall Cadets|Arthur M. Winfield
Sneak thieves and larger depredators found spoil on every hand.
Peculiarities of American Cities|Willard Glazier
The one twit him with being a white-livered coward, the other consider him to be either a sneak or a "deep fellow."
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British Dictionary definitions for sneak
sneak
/ (sniːk) /
verb
(intr; often foll by along, off, in, etc)to move furtively
(intr)to behave in a cowardly or underhand manner
(tr)to bring, take, or put stealthily
(intr)informal, mainlyBritishto tell tales (esp in schools)
(tr)informalto steal
(intr; foll by off, out, away, etc)informalto leave unobtrusively
noun
a person who acts in an underhand or cowardly manner, esp as an informer
a stealthy act or movement
(as modifier)a sneak attack
Britishinformalan unobtrusive departure
Derived forms of sneak
sneaky, adjectivesneakily, adverbsneakiness, noun
Word Origin for sneak
Old English snīcan to creep; from Old Norse snīkja to hanker after