Creep vs. Slither — What's the Difference?

Move slowly and carefully in order to avoid being heard or noticed

To move or slide by twisting or undulating the body over a surface, as in the manner of a snake.

(of a negative characteristic or fact) occur or develop gradually and almost imperceptibly

To walk with a sliding or shuffling gait

A detestable person

To slip and slide, as on a loose or uneven surface

Slow steady movement, especially when imperceptible

A slithering movement or gait.

An opening in a hedge or wall for an animal to pass through

(intransitive) To move about smoothly and from side to side.

Solid food given to young farm animals in order to wean them

(intransitive) To slide

To move with the body close to the ground, as on hands and knees.

(archaic) slithery; slippery

To move stealthily or cautiously.

A limestone rubble.

To move or proceed very slowly

A sliver.

To grow or spread along a surface, rooting at intervals or clinging by means of suckers or tendrils.

To slide; to glide.

To grow horizontally under the ground, as the rhizomes of many plants.

To pass or move unobtrusively or smoothly;

To slip out of place; shift gradually.

To have a tingling sensation, made by or as if by things moving stealthily

The act of creeping; a creeping motion or progress.

(Slang) An annoyingly unpleasant, unsettling, or repulsive person.

A slow flow of metal when under high temperature or great pressure.

A slow change in a characteristic of electronic equipment, such as a decrease in power with continued usage.

A usually unplanned and gradual shift or increase in uses or objectives away from what was originally specified or limited. Often used in combination

(Geology) The slow movement of rock debris and soil down a weathered slope.

Creeps Informal A sensation of fear or repugnance, as if things were crawling on one's skin

(intransitive) To move slowly with the abdomen close to the ground.

To grow across a surface rather than upwards.

(intransitive) To move slowly and quietly in a particular direction.

(intransitive) To make small gradual changes, usually in a particular direction.

To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or oneself.

To slip, or to become slightly displaced.

To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn.

To have a sensation as of insects creeping on the skin of the body; to crawl.

To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.

To covertly have sex (with a person other than one's primary partner); to cheat with.

The movement of something that creeps (like worms or snails).

A relatively small gradual change, variation or deviation (from a planned value) in a measure.

A slight displacement of an object; the slight movement of something.

(uncountable) The gradual expansion or proliferation of something beyond its original goals or boundaries, considered negatively.

(publishing) In sewn books, the tendency of pages on the inside of a quire to stand out farther than those on the outside of it.

(materials science) An increase in strain with time; the gradual flow or deformation of a material under stress.

(geology) The imperceptible downslope movement of surface rock.

Someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric.

A frightening and/or disconcerting person, especially one who gives the speaker chills.

(agriculture) A barrier with small openings used to keep large animals out while allowing smaller animals to pass through.

To move along the ground, or on any other surface, on the belly, as a worm or reptile; to move as a child on the hands and knees; to crawl.

To move slowly, feebly, or timorously, as from unwillingness, fear, or weakness.

To move in a stealthy or secret manner; to move imperceptibly or clandestinely; to steal in; to insinuate itself or one's self; as, age creeps upon us.

To slip, or to become slightly displaced; as, the collodion on a negative, or a coat of varnish, may creep in drying; the quicksilver on a mirror may creep.

To move or behave with servility or exaggerated humility; to fawn; as, a creeping sycophant.

To grow, as a vine, clinging to the ground or to some other support by means of roots or rootlets, or by tendrils, along its length.

To drag in deep water with creepers, as for recovering a submarine cable.

The act or process of creeping.

A distressing sensation, or sound, like that occasioned by the creeping of insects.

A slow rising of the floor of a gallery, occasioned by the pressure of incumbent strata upon the pillars or sides; a gradual movement of mining ground.

Someone unpleasantly strange or eccentric

A slow longitudinal movement or deformation

A pen that is fenced so that young animals can enter but adults cannot

A slow creeping mode of locomotion (on hands and knees or dragging the body);

Move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground;

To go stealthily or furtively;

Grow in such a way as to cover (a building, for example);

Show submission or fear