Word.ws English Dictionary

creeping in

creeping in noun: an instance of something creeping in. Also the present participle and gerund of creep in.

Noun

creeping in (plural creepings in)

  1. An instance of something creeping in.
    • Many a tear does he shed, because the creepings in of animal nature prevent his preparation for the Sabbath, and make him wrestle against the world with a puny arm. His disorders throw a sombre veil over his spirit, like the drapery of death.1833 November, “The Life of a Faithful Minister”, in B[ela] B[ates] Edwards, editor, The American Quarterly Register, volume VI, number 2, Boston, Mass.: Perkins, Marvin, & Co., […], published 1834...
    • For the habit or practice of doing kind and merciful Acts is a thing so real, and so apparently a part of ourselves, that we are thrown off our guard, and disposed to be less careful about our motives in doing them; and even to fancy that the influence of a good example may well make amends for any...1846, Thomas Worsley, “The Way of Alms”, in The Province of the Intellect in Religion Deduced from Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount, […], book II (Examination of the Sermon on the Mount, […]), London...

Also used as

creeping in is also the present participle and gerund of creep in.

Examples of creeping in in a sentence

  • My colleagues and I have noticed the creeping in of a “porn culture” in the way girls in particular are behaving.2013 March 15, Bel Mooney, quoting a reader, “I'm furious at my boyfriend for having his ex to stay in his flat”, in Daily Mail, London...
  • So I didn't like the creeping in of a calendar date.2013 June 21, Cardiff Garcia, “State-contingent policy works best when you know the states on which policy is contingent”, in Financial...
  • He wanted players to care about winning and not accept what he thought was a creeping in of the alternative.2022 March 16, Andy Bitter, “Virginia Tech pre-spring takeaways: Can Hokies change culture? Plus Devon Hunter’s status, Connor Blumrick’s...

Forms of creeping in

pluralcreepings in

Questions about creeping in

What does creeping in mean?
Creeping in means an instance of something creeping in.
How do you use creeping in in a sentence?
My colleagues and I have noticed the creeping in of a “porn culture” in the way girls in particular are behaving.
What part of speech is creeping in?
Creeping in is a noun.
What is the plural of creeping in?
The plural of creeping in is creepings in.

Words near creeping in in the dictionary

  1. creeping figs
  2. creeping foxglove
  3. creeping freehold
  4. creeping gromwell
  5. creeping gromwells
  6. creeping in
  7. creeping Jenny
  8. creeping Jesus
  9. creeping normality
  10. creeping on
  11. creeping out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: creeping in (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “creeping in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/creeping_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.