creeper

UK: /ˈkriːpə^r/ US: /ˈkripɚ/ ,(krē′pər)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

creep•er /ˈkripɚ/   n. [countable]

1. a person or thing that creeps.
2. Botany a plant that grows upon or just beneath the surface of the ground, sending out small roots from the stem:
   Ivy is a creeper.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

creep•er  (krē′pər), n. 

1. a person or thing that creeps.
2. Botany a plant that grows upon or just beneath the surface of the ground, or upon any other surface, sending out rootlets from the stem, as ivy and couch grass.
3. Clothing Often, creepers. a one-piece garment for an infant, the lower portion resembling briefs and having snaps or buttons across the crotch for convenience in diapering.
4. Dialect Terms [Chiefly Northeastern U.S.] a spiked iron plate worn on the shoe to prevent slipping on ice, rock, etc.
5. Automotive Also called cradle. a flat framework on casters, on which a mechanic lies while working under an automobile or the like.
6. Birds [Ornith.] any of various birds that creep or climb about on trees, esp. of the family Certhiidae, as Certhia americana (brown creeper or tree creeper,) of the Northern Hemisphere.
7. Veterinary Diseases a domestic fowl having malformed, short legs, due to a genetic defect.
8. a grappling device for dragging a river, lake, etc.

• Middle English crepere, Old English crēopere. See creep, -er¹ bef. 1000

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

creeper / ˈkriːpə/ noun

1. a person or animal that creeps
2. a plant, such as the ivy or periwinkle, that grows by creeping
3. Also called: tree creeper any small songbird of the family Certhiidae of the N hemisphere, having a brown-and-white plumage and slender downward-curving bill. They creep up trees to feed on insects
4. a hooked instrument for dragging deep water
5. a shoe with a soft sole