Meanings
present singular third person becreeps · participle present becreeping · participle past becrept · past becrept
- transitiveTo creep up on; stalk
"Ja, baas," he said; "I shall becreep them. […]"
2015, Henry Bryden, The Gold Kloof3 more examples
But they, seeing that there was not sufficient cover for them to “becreep” the rhinoceros with safety, allowed Robert to go on alone.
1838, Sir James Edward Alexander, An Expedition of Discovery Into the Interior of Africa“Two o'clock am a troop of buffaloes came to drink at our pool and one of my boys, whose leg had been broken last year by an elephant, becrept them and shot one which turned out to be in good condition. […]"
2008, Richard Sampson, White Induna, page 33Or malachite in green coprolitic stools like small stone turds becrept a brassy green.
2010, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, page 276
Origin
- Middle Dutchbecrûpen
- Dutchbekruipen
- Afrikaansbekruip
- Englishbecreep
Borrowed from Afrikaans bekruip, or alternatively from Dutch bekruipen, both from Middle Dutch becrûpen, equivalent to be- + creep.
More words from Afrikaans, Dutch, Middle Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with becreep
Cite this entry
becreep. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/becreep
“becreep.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/becreep. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “becreep,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/becreep.
Source: becreep on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.