I. verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
feature creep
mission creep
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
along
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Slowly, step by step, she crept along the terrace until she stood there, looking in.
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This relative of the dogwood family, whose trees are well known farther south, here creeps along just under the soil.
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You creep along to an open doorway.
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The school building program -.. is creeping along at a painfully slow clip.
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It was very easy to imagine eyes peering from the gloom, or strange beings creeping along the path behind them.
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As they crept along they could not help wondering what they would find.
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Go quiet. Creep along , maybe catch kill snake for pot.
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He crept along the wall, keeping in the shadows.
around
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I crept around to the back of the house and watched as he carried her through the kitchen and into the garage.
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Bugs creep around him through the tendrils and quite near a thrush is singing.
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It makes it impossible for anyone to creep around your house without making a noise.
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At night, the lonesome limbs would be programmed to creep around and do housework while everyone is asleep.
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The silence crept around them, as thick as the darkness.
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He crept around in the huge inner yard, looking for clues.
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I didn't know him very well and I despised him for being well behaved and creeping around telling stories about me.
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They are tough, tensile; part of the structure of the poem rather than decorative vines creeping around it.
away
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A sensible person respected the sleeping beast and crept away .
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I crept away into the woods after an hour and his voice followed me there.
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She went there, guilty at having crept away .
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All that day and the next we crept away from the northern perimeter of the storm.
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Mayne and his group crept away , leaving the guards to fight it out between themselves.
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She came down the hall in a red gown as I crept away from Hugh.
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She wedged their magazines between old paint tins and imperfectly washed milk bottles and towers of flowerpots, and crept away .
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He hadn't said a tithe of the prayers he knew when the sunlight crept away toward the church.
back
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Totally mystified by his experience, he crept back to the booking hall and tried to sleep.
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When the shouting subsided, I crept back to the door.
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Pottz wiped out three waves in a row and crept back in with his tail between his legs.
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But the capital gains differential began creeping back in with tax changes promoted by both George Bush and Bill Clinton.
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But costly turnovers allowed Washington to creep back into the game, despite the dominance of the Cowboys defence.
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He was allowed to creep back into power for want of a credible alternative.
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She'd come creeping back again, complaining about Dad's crumpled collars and his scuffed shoes, sprucing him up.
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Do werewolves feel this sense of safety as they creep back just at dawn into some borrowed body?
closer
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Harriet Shakespeare and the policemen had begun to creep closer , ready to run as soon as the first shot was fired.
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We crept closer , and watched her push her defiant hair away from her forehead with the back of her hand.
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Elizabeth crept closer to snap a close-range shot of her friend's sand-flecked face.
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Hidell creeps closer to the East.
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He could hear beating noises as he crept closer , transferring the bomb from one sweating hand to the other.
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He read the letter over and over again, and with each re-reading the possibility of belief crept closer .
down
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Jenna crept down the stairs, pulling her dressing-gown closely round her, stumbling across the room to the door.
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A woman crept down her front steps in a pink bathrobe, her hand holding on to the rail beside the steps.
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What was the alternative, though? Creep down , armed with a poker, and confront the intruder?
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I pulled on a sweater and trousers and crept down the stairs in bare feet.
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We crept down into the hall, through the kitchen and out by a small postern door.
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I put my clothes on, and crept down the stairs.
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Then she opened the bedroom door and crept down through the dark, silent house.
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The stench, and the prospect of all those stairs to be crept down , made her faint.
downstairs
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Their twelve-year-old son had crept downstairs and listened at the door.
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Late in the night I got up and crept downstairs .
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At half-past six and still dark they crept downstairs and out into the street.
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He crept downstairs , hardly making any noise.
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As I crept downstairs , I could hear Mr Rochester in his room, walking up and down and sighing.
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As the afternoon drew to a close, Mildred crept downstairs and out into the darkening yard.
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I creep downstairs and roam pointlessly around.
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She crept downstairs , through the kitchen and out into the little back garden.
forward
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Then the light had crept forward , down the rutted track that led to nowhere but their house.
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Her hand rose to her mouth and she crept forward .
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When they landed Paul crept forward to peer out into the grassland from behind a tree.
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Iluminada has now crept forward to the edge of the circle to offer the matches to her mistress.
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It dragged its feet and whimpered, it crept forward , it flinched.
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Very slowly, and keeping down below the seals' horizon, I crept forward towards the sound of singing.
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Masklin lowered himself carefully to the floor and crept forward .
in
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The curtains were partly open, allowing the merest glimmer of moonlight to creep in .
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Biases can creep in in extremely subtle ways, and researchers can, quite unconsciously, favour some groups and disfavour others.
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Feelings were beginning to creep in , and that would be monumentally stupid, to actually begin to care for him.
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By the following issue record reviews had crept in .
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Even in so concise a document, ambiguity creeps in: everybody is to be allowed the right to self-defense.
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It is good because it is written in friendly, ordinary language and where jargon creeps in, it is explained.
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Neglect yourself and self-doubt begins to creep in and that swiftly turns to depression.
out
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Izzie crept out last, and pinched dead the candle flame.
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In the darkness Thisbe crept out and made her way in all secrecy to the tomb.
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His face shadowed by the dim light, he crept out and slipped through a door behind the bridge.
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What more would creep out of the woodwork to delay things further?
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One wooden jetty crept out over the water on brittle insect legs.
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The wart crept out between his parted lips.
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They were too tired to notice as I crept out again.
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We crept out of the bushes.
over
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He could not resist a faint smile creeping over his face.
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Then another feeling crept over me, a deep, almost atavistic longing.
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Jon and I did not cheer, for a cold realisation was creeping over us.
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Its price has been creeping over $ 10, but it remains a great value.
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Dawn had begun to break, and daylight crept over the barren countryside.
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Perhaps a few hours away from here would cure the feeling of claustrophobia that was beginning to creep over her.
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She stayed in the chair as dusk crept over the garden below, too physically and mentally tired to move.
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The water crept over the road.
round
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The time had crept round to midday. 12 Kev had seemed moody all morning, so his workmates said afterwards.
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At five o'clock, with daylight creeping round the curtains, she had got up and dressed.
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Henry crept round to the back, through an alley.
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When I couldn't stand it any longer I dashed across the road and crept round the back.
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It crept round the corners of the buildings and hung in the doorways and fled in ragged wisps from the car headlights.
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Ludovico's arm crept round her waist.
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In the interests of discretion, he waited until nearly twelve-thirty before creeping round to the ladies' corridor.
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As a kid I used to wonder how burglars could creep round your house at night without waking you.
slowly
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He crept slowly towards the main corridors.
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Gradually I descended the spruce tree and slowly crept toward the feeding birds.
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If they creep slowly forward they will not hit the net with anything like the amount of impact required to entangle them.
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It seemed to be slowly creeping into her groin and up ... up into her stomach.
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We'd slowly creep up on them then shout abuse and kick sand all over them.
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I envisaged a deadly tarantula creeping slowly into my bed, spreading its legs over me, about to bite!
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Those are the moments when the cheetah can creep slowly forward.
up
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Rung by rung, she crept up the ladder.
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I stood, instead, to watch the sun creep up by the Connecticut Capitol.
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At five o'clock she returned to the theatre and crept up the stairs to the dressing-room.
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They must have been creeping up on us.
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She crept up all over it.
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It had been creeping up on me during the last couple of days.
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But once she was alone with her knitting depression crept up on Leonora like an incoming tide.
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I perch on one boulder and creep up another.
■ NOUN
bed
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Often she crept out of her bed in the dead of night and sneaked into the new school hall to practise.
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Finally, I threw back the quilt, put the package on the pillow, and crept into bed .
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She crept back to bed and lay next to her husband, taking care to leave a space between their bodies.
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The violent hammering continued and Jenna crept out of bed to look down into the dark courtyard.
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I envisaged a deadly tarantula creeping slowly into my bed , spreading its legs over me, about to bite!
door
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Pause for a second or two, then creep towards the door .
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When the shouting subsided, I crept back to the door .
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He crept to the door and opened it, blinking at the bright light.
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In the right season there would be roses creeping up around the door .
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Blowing out the candle, Tilly crept to the kitchen door and gingerly opened it.
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I crept to the door and, with a sudden movement, opened it wide.
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Slipping into her silk bathrobe, she crept to the door and listened.
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Dunn crept to the door , shot Lessing, shot the operator, smashed the valves and called it a night.
face
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He could not resist a faint smile creeping over his face .
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As he reviewed the figures a slight smirk crept over his face .
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Smith, in spite of himself, could feel a glow of pride creeping over his face .
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The shadow of the earth is now creeping across the face .
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Hannah nodded her head again, a faint smile creeping across her face .
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A strange warmth crept up to his face .
house
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Later, under cover of darkness, they crept into the house , where Charles hid for the night in the attic.
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With the young animal wrapped in her cardigan, Jenny crept through the house and into the kitchen.
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It makes it impossible for anyone to creep around your house without making a noise.
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Or had he crept out of the house and left her shut in here?
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Surely women know by now not to go creeping into scary houses by themselves after dark.
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As a kid I used to wonder how burglars could creep round your house at night without waking you.
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She crept out of her house , and made her way to the festa.
room
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The damp was creeping into the living room .
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After a moment, she crept out of her room and looked round the corner of the landing, down the stairs.
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In the end I crept back up to my room .
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In the night she crept up to Angel's room and pushed the letter under his door.
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Then I crept out of the room .
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She crept into Chrissy's room , shutting the door silently behind her.
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As soon as it was light, I crept out of the room and went downstairs for a coffee at a nearby café.
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I creep back to my room , leaving both our doors ajar.
stair
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Jenna crept down the stairs , pulling her dressing-gown closely round her, stumbling across the room to the door.
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I gave him another five, then crept up the stairs and peered into his room.
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At five o'clock she returned to the theatre and crept up the stairs to the dressing-room.
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I crept down the stairs , following the sound of voices.
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I pulled on a sweater and trousers and crept down the stairs in bare feet.
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I put my clothes on, and crept down the stairs .
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But it wasn't duty that took her from her bed creeping down the stairs .
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So she beckoned to Baptiste and he crept up the stairs after her, his shoes in his hand.
voice
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A flat, tense quality crept into her voice .
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The anguish crept into his voice .
■ VERB
allow
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Surely she was still as determined as ever not to allow anyone to creep through her defences and make her care?
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He was allowed to creep back into power for want of a credible alternative.
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The tale took some ten minutes to tell, Sandison being careful to allow no inconsistencies to creep in.
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He forced it close enough to the edge to allow the Toyota to creep past on the inside.
begin
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Harriet Shakespeare and the policemen had begun to creep closer, ready to run as soon as the first shot was fired.
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But the capital gains differential began creeping back in with tax changes promoted by both George Bush and Bill Clinton.
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Neglect yourself and self-doubt begins to creep in and that swiftly turns to depression.
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At 47, Diane Wasenius is not taking chances with her blood-sugar levels, which began creeping up over the past year.
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And now, quite slowly, there began to creep over Matilda a most extraordinary and peculiar feeling.
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So I begin creeping down the chute.
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Drugs and alcohol began to creep in.
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The vehicle began to creep cautiously down a ramp of hard-packed rock, into the interior of the crater.
feel
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Alice felt a blush creeping over her body.
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Then another feeling crept over me, a deep, almost atavistic longing.
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Already he could feel depression and worry creeping over him like a periodic fever.
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One of them was Moon-Watcher; once again he felt inquisitive tendrils creeping down the unused byways of his brain.
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The muscles of his arms and chest were rippling as he moved and she felt a hot flush creeping over her body.
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Just as he felt a certain warmth in his spirit, he felt the creeping cold in his feet.
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I felt a terrible anxiety creeping over me.
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I could feel soldiers creeping towards us.
seem
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It passed this information on in a terrible hushed whine that seemed to creep in and fill the head.
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They seem to creep up on us gradually for reasons that medical science is only now beginning to understand.
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More worrying, the long-finned gene seems to be creeping into broods where it's not wanted.
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It seemed to be slowly creeping into her groin and up ... up into her stomach.
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Often ideas just seem to creep up on you.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
make sb's flesh creep/crawl
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Armed men in ski masks crept up on the van and raked it with gunfire.
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As the sun began to set, long shadows seemed to creep out of the corners.
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Clouds crept across the horizon, just above the line of trees.
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No-one noticed that the little boy had crept into the room and was sitting there, listening.
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Ron unlocked the back door and crept out into the yard.
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She crept up behind him and put her hands over his eyes.
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The unemployment rate crept up to 5.7% in May.
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We crept down to the deserted library at the other end of the hall, so that we could talk.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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A sensible person respected the sleeping beast and crept away.
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At five o'clock she returned to the theatre and crept up the stairs to the dressing-room.
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But if you keep looking beyond the reflections you eventually notice the glow creeping into the sky.
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Mooney glanced back as Al Bibeau crept up to him.
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She crept into Chrissy's room, shutting the door silently behind her.
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This relative of the dogwood family, whose trees are well known farther south, here creeps along just under the soil.
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Trying to stay calm, he crept up on the statue.
II. noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
mission
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It is a case of mission creep gone wildly over the top.
■ VERB
give
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The prospect of being marooned on Gullholm for days with a Heathcliff bereft of his Cathy gave her the creeps .
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It still gives me the creeps to think of it.
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It gives me the creeps , that's all.
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As much as he gave her the creeps , there was also this secret fascination.
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Those two were going to give her the creeps if she really had to take them all the way to Titan.
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It gave him the creeps to think of Omar sleeping in the same room where the Judge had died.
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He seemed completely in his element, though all those monks flitting round the place rather gave me the creeps .
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Northern Nevada gives me the creeps .
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
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Get out of here you little creep ! You make me sick!
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He didn't say that, did he? What a creep !
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She's such a creep at work.
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Will's the class creep , and the teachers don't notice.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
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As much as he gave her the creeps, there was also this secret fascination.
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He seemed completely in his element, though all those monks flitting round the place rather gave me the creeps.
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It gives me the creeps and I know it frightened the kiddies.
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Little creeps, how heartened we were by our bold behavior.
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Those two were going to give her the creeps if she really had to take them all the way to Titan.