sneak
[ sneek ]
/ snik /
verb (used without object), sneaked or snuck, sneak·ing.
verb (used with object), sneaked or snuck, sneak·ing.
to move, put, pass, etc., in a stealthy or furtive manner: He sneaked the gun into his pocket.
to do, take, or enjoy hurriedly or surreptitiously: to sneak a cigarette.
noun
Origin of sneak
1590–1600; variant of Middle English
sniken, Old English
snīcan to creep; cognate with Old Norse
snīkja to hanker after
usage note for sneak
First recorded in writing toward the end of the 19th century in the United States,
snuck has become in recent decades a standard variant past tense and past participle of the verb
sneak :
Bored by the lecture, he snuck out the side door.
Snuck occurs frequently in fiction and in journalistic writing as well as on radio and television:
In the darkness the sloop had snuck around the headland, out of firing range. It is not so common in highly formal or belletristic writing, where
sneaked is more likely to occur.
Snuck is the only spoken past tense and past participle for many younger and middle-aged persons of all educational levels in the U. S. and Canada.
Snuck has occasionally been considered nonstandard, but it is so widely used by professional writers and educated speakers that it can no longer be so regarded.
Words nearby sneak
snath,
snazzy,
sncc,
sncf,
snead,
sneak,
sneak preview,
sneak thief,
sneaker,
sneakerhead,
sneakernet
Example sentences from the Web for sneaked
British Dictionary definitions for sneaked
sneak
/ (sniːk) /
verb
noun
Derived forms of sneak
sneaky, adjective sneakily, adverb sneakiness, nounWord Origin for sneak
Old English
snīcan to creep; from Old Norse
snīkja to hanker after