creep up
English
Verb
creep up (third-person singular simple present creeps up, present participle creeping up, simple past and past participle crept up)
- (intransitive) To advance or increase with stealth, unnoticed (literally or figuratively).
- The lioness has to creep up behind her prey so as not to be noticed.
- 2014, A teacher, "Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents", The Guardian, 23 September 2014:
- These days cramped classrooms are all too common, with class sizes creeping up.
- 1898, J. Meade Falkner, Moonfleet Chapter 4
- 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.