creep up

creep up (third-person singular simple present creeps up, present participle creeping up, simple past and past participle crept up)

1. (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 September 23, A teacher, “Choosing a primary school: a teacher's guide for parents”, in The Guardian:

     These days cramped classrooms are all too common, with class sizes creeping up.

   • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:

     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.

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