creep up

present singular third person creeps up · participle present creeping up · participle past crept up · past crept up

1. intransitiveTo advance or increase with stealth, unnoticed (literally or figuratively).

   The lioness has to creep up behind her prey so as not to be noticed.

   3 more examples

   Then I was forced to rest; and, sitting down on the ground, saw that the glimmering streak of light had faded, and that the awful blackness of the previous night was creeping up again.

   [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC

   Her exploration of emotion, too, is slightly muted. You have to stop and consult yourself. Pain — or joy or passion — creep up afterwards. These poems never hit you over the head.

   1982 August 28, Andrea Loewenstein, “Becker's Experience Talks Back”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 7, page 11

   These days cramped classrooms are all too common, with class sizes creeping up.

   2014 September 23, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian