creeper

/kree"peuhr/, n.

1. a person or thing that creeps.

2. Bot. a plant that grows upon or just beneath the surface of the ground, or upon any other surface, sending out rootlets from the stem, as ivy and couch grass.

3. Often, creepers. a one-piece garment for an infant, the lower portion resembling briefs and having snaps or buttons across the crotch for convenience in diapering.

4. Chiefly Northeastern U.S. a spiked iron plate worn on the shoe to prevent slipping on ice, rock, etc.

5. Also called cradle. Auto. a flat framework on casters, on which a mechanic lies while working under an automobile or the like.

6. Ornith. any of various birds that creep or climb about on trees, esp. of the family Certhiidae, as Certhia americana (brown creeper or tree creeper), of the Northern Hemisphere.

7. a domestic fowl having malformed, short legs, due to a genetic defect.

8. a grappling device for dragging a river, lake, etc.

[bef. 1000; ME crepere, OE creopere. See CREEP, -ER¹]

* * *

▪ bird

 any of various small birds that hug tree trunks or rock surfaces as they move about while feeding. The following are songbirds (suborder Passeres; order Passeriformes):

      The 13-centimetre (5-inch) spotted creeper (Salpornis spilonotus) of Africa and India is usually placed in the family Certhiidae, but its relationships are obscure.

      The Philippine creepers of the genus Rhabdornis have brush-tipped tongues and often visit flowers. They are usually placed in their own family, Rhabdornithidae, but some authorities place them in the Sittidae and others in the Climacteridae.

      The brown creeper (Finschia novaeseelandiae) of New Zealand belongs to the subfamily Malurinae of the Old World warblers (family Sylviidae). It is about 13 cm long, with a rather long tail and a tiny bill. Flocks or pairs call constantly in forests of South Island.

      For the North American brown creeper (Certhia familiaris), see treecreeper.

* * *