creeper

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One that creeps.
2. n. Botany A plant that spreads by means of stems that creep.
3. n. See cradle.
4. n. A grappling device for dragging bodies of water, such as lakes or rivers.
5. n. A one-piece fitted garment for an infant.
6. n. A metal frame with a spike or spikes, attached to a shoe or boot to prevent slipping, especially on ice.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. One who or that which creeps.
2. n. One who cringes; a sycophant.
3. n. In botany, a plant which 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, the common Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia), and the trumpet-creeper (Tecoma radicans). See cut under Bignoniaceæ. The term is also popularly applied to various plants which are more properly called climbers, as the Canary creeper (Tropæolum aduncum), etc.
4. n. In ornithology, a term applied to very many birds, mostly of small size and with slender bill, which creep, climb, or scramble about in trees and bushes. Specifically— Any bird of the family Certhiidæ, in any sense of the word. The common or brown creeper is Certhia familiaris.
5. n. A specimen of a breed of the domestic fowl with legs so short that they walk slowly and with difficulty, and do not scratch like common fowls.
6. n. A name of various mechanical devices and utensils. An iron used to slide along the grate in kitchens.
7. n. A low patten worn by women.
8. n. plural Same as creep, 3.
9. n. Same as creepie.
10. n. plural Small andirons or fire-dogs placed between large ones.
11. n. The sandworm, Nereis virens.

Wiktionary

1. n. A person or a thing who crawls or creeps along the ground.
2. n. Often in plural, a one-piece garment for infants designed to facilitate access to the wearer's diaper.
3. n. A device which allows a small child to safely roam around a room from a seated or standing position.
4. n. A metal plate with spikes, designed to be worn with shoes to prevent slipping.
5. n. botany Any plant (as ivy or periwinkle) that grows by creeping; especially a climbing plant of the genus Parthenocissus.
6. n. A treecreeper.
7. n. nautical A small, four-hooked grapnel used to recover objects dropped onto the sea bed.
8. n. The lowest gear of a tractor or truck, also creeper gear, creeper shift.
9. n. A low-profile, wheeled platform whereupon an auto mechanic may lie on their back and gain better access to the underbody of a vehicle.
10. n. slang A person who creeps people out; a creepy person.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who, or that which, creeps; any creeping thing.
2. n. (Bot.) A plant that clings by rootlets, or by tendrils, to the ground, or to trees, etc..
3. n. (Zoöl.) A small bird of the genus Certhia, allied to the wrens. The brown or common European creeper is Certhia familiaris, a variety of which (var. Americana) inhabits America; -- called also tree creeper and creeptree. The American black and white creeper is Mniotilta varia.
4. n. A kind of patten mounted on short pieces of iron instead of rings; also, a fixture with iron points worn on a shoe to prevent one from slipping.
5. n. A spurlike device strapped to the boot, which enables one to climb a tree or pole; -- called often telegraph creepers.
6. n. A small, low iron, or dog, between the andirons.
7. n. An instrument with iron hooks or claws for dragging at the bottom of a well, or any other body of water, and bringing up what may lie there.
8. n. Any device for causing material to move steadily from one part of a machine to another, as an apron in a carding machine, or an inner spiral in a grain screen.
9. n. (Arch.) Crockets. See Crocket.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a person who crawls or creeps along the ground
2. n. 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
3. n. any plant (as ivy or periwinkle) that grows by creeping