creep over
phr. v..phr. v.. to slowly start to feel a certain emotion or sensation. You use this when a feeling grows on you gradually until you notice it.
phr. v.. to gradually begin to affect or be perceived by someone, typically in reference to a physical sensation or an emotional state. This phrasal verb is intransitive when describing a feeling spreading across a person.
A feeling of fear began to creep over her.
As the sun set and the temperature dropped, a sudden chill started to creep over the hikers.
A sense of profound exhaustion began to creep over the exhausted surgeon as the final operation of the night concluded.
- Particles
- over
- Separability
- inseparable
- Pattern
- creep + over + object
usually used with abstract nouns like 'dread', 'tiredness', 'silence', or 'cold'.
the verb 'creep' implies a slow, stealthy movement; help students visualize the feeling moving like a slow-moving mist or a quiet animal.
The sadness crept over to me.The sadness crept over me.the particle 'over' functions as the preposition here, so adding 'to' is redundant and incorrect.