/kree"peuhr/ , n.
1. a person or thing that creeps.
2. Bot. 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. 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. Chiefly Northeastern U.S. a spiked iron plate worn on the shoe to prevent slipping on ice, rock, etc.
5. Also called cradle . Auto. a flat framework on casters, on which a mechanic lies while working under an automobile or the like.
6. 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. a domestic fowl having malformed, short legs, due to a genetic defect.
8. a grappling device for dragging a river, lake, etc.
[ bef. 1000; ME crepere, OE creopere. See CREEP, -ER 1 ]