sneak adj : marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a lurking prowler"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch"; "someone skulking in the shadows" [syn: furtive, lurking, skulking, sneak(a), sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious]

1 someone who prowls or sneaks about; usually with unlawful intentions [syn: prowler, stalker]

2 someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police [syn: fink, snitch, snitcher, stoolpigeon, stoolie, sneaker, canary]

1 to go stealthily or furtively; "..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor's house" [syn: mouse, creep, steal, pussyfoot]

2 put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner; "sneak a look"; "sneak a cigarette"

3 make off with belongings of others [syn: pilfer, cabbage, purloin, pinch, abstract, snarf, swipe, hook, filch, nobble, lift]

4 pass on stealthily; "He slipped me the key when nobody was looking" [syn: slip] [also: snuck]

English

Pronunciation

• /sniːk/, /sni:k/
• Rhymes with: -iːk

Noun

1. A mean, sneaking fellow.
2. , A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter

Verb

1. To creep or steal (away or about) privately; to come or go meanly, as a person afraid or ashamed to be seen; as, to sneak away from company.
2. To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.

Usage notes

The past and past participle snuck is primarily found in North American English, where it originated in the late 19th century as a dialectal form, and where it is still regarded as informal by some; its use appears to be increasing in frequency and acceptability. It is sometimes found in British and Australian English too. (Cf. The Cambridge Guide to English Usage, Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Webster's New World College Dictionary).

Derived terms

• sneaker
• sneak up/sneak up on
• sneaky

Translations

• Bosnian: šunjati se, inf; krasti se inf
• Dutch: binnenglippen
• Finnish: hiipiä, hiippailla
• German: schleichen

Sneak may refer to:

• DJ Sneak, Puerto Rican DJ
• Keak Da Sneak, rapper from Oakland, California
• The Sneaks, band from New Zealand
• Quarterback sneak, a term in American football
• Sneakbox, type of small boat
• Sneak magazine, British weekly magazine
• Sneak, an animated character also referred to as The Cheat

arrant coward, blackguard, caitiff, clandestine, couch, covert, cower, craven, crawl, creep, cringe, crouch, cur, dastard, devil, fink, furtive, glide, go on tiptoe, grass, grovel, gumshoe, heel, hole-and-corner, hush-hush, inch, inch along, informer, knave, lay wait, lie in wait, louse, lurk, nark, nightwalk, pad, poltroon, precious rascal, prowl, pussyfoot, quail, rapscallion, rascal, recreant, reptile, rogue, run, scalawag, scamp, scoundrel, scrabble, scramble, shadow, shirk, shithead, shyster, sidle, skulk, skunk, slide, slink, slip, slither, sly, smuggle, snake, sneaker, snitch, snook, spalpeen, stalk, steal, steal along, stealthy, stoolie, surreptitious, tippytoe, tiptoe, toad, undercover, villain, weasel, worm, worm along