seep

UK: /ˈsiːp/ US: /sip/ ,(sēp)

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

seep /sip/   v. [no object]

1. to flow or ooze slowly, as through small openings.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

seep  (sēp), v.i. 

1. to pass, flow, or ooze gradually through a porous substance:
   Water seeps through cracks in the wall.
2. (of ideas, methods, etc.) to enter or be introduced at a slow pace:
   The new ideas finally seeped down to the lower echelons.
3. to become diffused;
   permeate:
   Fog seeped through the trees, obliterating everything.

v.t. 

4. to cause to seep;
   filter:
   The vodka is seeped through charcoal to purify it.

n. 

5. moisture that seeps out;
   seepage.
6. a small spring, pool, or other place where liquid from the ground has oozed to the surface of the earth.

• perh. variant of dialect, dialectal sipe, itself perh. continuing Old English sīpian (cognate with Middle Low German sīpen) 1780–90

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

seep / siːp/ verb

1. (intransitive) to pass gradually or leak through or as if through small openings; ooze

noun

1. a small spring or place where water, oil, etc, has oozed through the ground
2. another word for seepage

Etymology: Old English sīpian; related to Middle High German sīfen, Swedish dialect sipa