SNEAK (snuck)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: snuck   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does sneak mean? 

• SNEAK (noun)
  The noun SNEAK has 3 senses:

1. a person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible

2. someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions

3. someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police

  Familiarity information: SNEAK used as a noun is uncommon.

• SNEAK (adjective)
  The adjective SNEAK has 1 sense:

1. marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed

  Familiarity information: SNEAK used as an adjective is very rare.

• SNEAK (verb)
  The verb SNEAK has 4 senses:

1. to go stealthily or furtively

2. put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner

3. make off with belongings of others

4. pass on stealthily

  Familiarity information: SNEAK used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SNEAK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("sneak" is a kind of...):

disagreeable person; unpleasant person (a person who is not pleasant or agreeable)

Derivation:

sneak (marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed)

sneaky (marked by deception)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

prowler; sneak; stalker

Hypernyms ("sneak" is a kind of...):

interloper; intruder; trespasser (someone who intrudes on the privacy or property of another without permission)

Derivation:

sneak (to go stealthily or furtively)

sneak; sneaky (marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

canary; fink; sneak; sneaker; snitch; snitcher; stool pigeon; stoolie; stoolpigeon

Hypernyms ("sneak" is a kind of...):

betrayer; blabber; informer; rat; squealer (one who reveals confidential information in return for money)

• SNEAK (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed

Synonyms:

furtive; sneak; sneaky; stealthy; surreptitious

Context example:

a surreptitious glance at his watch

Similar:

concealed (hidden on any grounds for any motive)

Derivation:

sneak (someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions)

sneak (a person who is regarded as underhanded and furtive and contemptible)

• SNEAK (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they sneak    ... he / she / it sneaks   
Past simple: sneaked   
Past participle: sneaked   
-ing form: sneaking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

To go stealthily or furtively

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

creep; mouse; pussyfoot; sneak

Context example:

..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house

Hypernyms (to "sneak" is one way to...):

walk (use one's feet to advance; advance by steps)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The children sneak to the playground

Also:

sneak away; sneak out (leave furtively and stealthily)

Derivation:

sneak (someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

sneak a cigarette

Hypernyms (to "sneak" is one way to...):

act; move (perform an action, or work out or perform (an action))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

They sneak the food to the people
They sneak the people the food
They sneak the parcel to their parents
They sneak them the parcel

Sense 3

Meaning:

Make off with belongings of others

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

abstract; cabbage; filch; hook; lift; nobble; pilfer; pinch; purloin; snarf; sneak; swipe

Hypernyms (to "sneak" is one way to...):

rip; rip off; steal (take without the owner's consent)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s something from somebody

Sentence example:

They sneak the money

Sense 4

Meaning:

Pass on stealthily

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

slip; sneak

Context example:

He slipped me the key when nobody was looking

Hypernyms (to "sneak" is one way to...):

give; hand; pass; pass on; reach; turn over (place into the hands or custody of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody something
Somebody ----s something to somebody

 Context examples 

You'll look silly, some o' these days, when someone comes along an' sneaks the honey.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It is so altogether different that I am almost afraid of it, and yet I've a sneaking idea it is good.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Steerforth said there was nothing of the sneak in Traddles, and we all felt that to be the highest praise.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

My word, how he rated us, and how glad we were at last to sneak quietly away.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“You damn little sneak! I’ll shut yer mouth!”

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“A more perfect compound of the bully, coward, and sneak than Master Silas Brown I have seldom met with,” remarked Holmes as we trudged along together.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Yes; he did not stay many minutes in the house: Missis was very high with him; she called him afterwards a 'sneaking tradesman.'

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Nevertheless he felt a little prick of ambition, a sneaking desire to have another battle with that ptarmigan hen—only the hawk had carried her away.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Wherever they went, some pattened girl stopped to curtsy, or some footman in dishabille sneaked off.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

This frontier image provides a sneak peak of the early universe, and gives us a taste of what the James Webb Space Telescope will be capable of seeing in greater detail when it launches in 2018.

(NASA’s Hubble Looks to the Final Frontier, NASA)