SNEAK

furtive, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious

(adjective) marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; “a furtive manner”; “a sneak attack”; “stealthy footsteps”; “a surreptitious glance at his watch”

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

(noun) someone acting as an informer or decoy for the police

prowler, sneak, stalker

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

sneak

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

sneak, mouse, creep, pussyfoot

(verb) to go stealthily or furtively; “..stead of sneaking around spying on the neighbor’s house”

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

(verb) make off with belongings of others

sneak

(verb) put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner; “sneak a look”; “sneak a cigarette”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Noun

sneak (plural sneaks)

One who sneaks; one who moves stealthily to acquire an item or information.

A cheat; a con artist.

Synonyms: con artist, trickster, Thesaurus:confidence trickster, Thesaurus:deceiver

An informer; a tell-tale.

Synonym: Thesaurus:informant

(obsolete, cricket) A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; a daisy-cutter

(US) A sneaker; a tennis shoe.

(American football) A play where the quarterback receives the snap and immediately dives forward.

Verb

sneak (third-person singular simple present sneaks, present participle sneaking, simple past and past participle snuck or sneaked)

(intransitive) To creep or go stealthily; to come or go while trying to avoid detection, as a person who does not wish to be seen.

Synonym: skulk

(transitive) To take something stealthily without permission.

(ditransitive) To stealthily bring someone something.

(transitive, dated) To hide, especially in a mean or cowardly manner.

(intransitive, informal, with on) To inform an authority of another's misdemeanours.

Synonyms: grass, snitch, tell tales

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. It is still regarded as informal by some, but its use appears to be increasing in frequency and acceptability. It is occasionally found in British and Australian/Hiberno-English, too, though regarded as an American form. (See Oxford Dictionaries, The Cambridge Guide to English Usage, Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, Webster's New World College Dictionary.)

• Informally, snook is also often found as the past tense. It is considered nonstandard.

• To sneak (take) something is not the same as to steal something. In this sense, sneak typically implies trying to avoid a supervisor's or guardian's mild displeasure or mild discipline, while steal indicates a more serious action and often the person stealing does not know the owner of the item being stolen.

Adjective

sneak (not comparable)

In advance; before release to the general public.

In a stealthy or surreptitious manner.

Anagrams

• Kasen, Keans, Snake, akens, asken, kaens, nakes, skean, snake

Source: Wiktionary

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Sneak, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Sneaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Sneaking.] Etym: [OE. sniken, AS. snican to creep; akin to Dan. snige sig; cf. Icel. snikja to hanker after.]

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. imp. & p. p. "snuck" is more common now, but not even mentioned here. In MW10, simply "sneaked or snuck" You skulked behind the fence, and sneaked away. Dryden.

2. To act in a stealthy and cowardly manner; to behave with meanness and servility; to crouch.

Sneak, v. t.

Definition: To hide, esp. in a mean or cowardly manner. [Obs.] "[Slander] sneaks its head." Wake.

Sneak, n.

1. A mean, sneaking fellow. A set of simpletons and superstitious sneaks. Glanvill.

2. (Cricket)

Definition: A ball bowled so as to roll along the ground; -- called also grub. [Cant] R. A. Proctor.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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