SNEAK


Meaning of SNEAK in English

■ verb ( past and past participle ~ed or informal, chiefly N. Amer. snuck )

1》 move, go, or convey in a furtive or stealthy manner.

↘stealthily do or obtain: she ~ed a glance at her watch.

2》 Brit. informal inform someone in authority of a person's misdeeds.

■ noun informal

1》 Brit. a telltale.

2》 a furtive person.

3》 N. Amer. short for ~er .

■ adjective acting or done surreptitiously: a ~ preview.

Origin

C16: prob. dialect; perh. related to obs. snike 'to creep'.

Usage

The standard past form of ~ is ~ed . An alternative past form, snuck , arose in US dialect in the 19th century. Although snuck was formerly regarded as non-standard its use has spread in the US, where it is now regarded as a standard alternative to ~ed in all but the most formal contexts.

Concise Oxford English vocab.      Сжатый оксфордский словарь английского языка.