sneak, snike

i. & t [A. S. snican to creep; Sw. dial. snig a to creep; snika to hanker after; Ir. or Gael.snaigh,snaig=to crawl, to sneak.] A. In trans i live : 1. To creep or steal privately; to move or go furtively, as though afraid or ashamed to be seen; to slink. (Followed by off , away , .) "If he was a fierce bully he sneaked off , muttering that he should find a time." -Macaulay : Hist . Eng ., ch. iii. 2. To behave with meanne and servility; to crouch. "So Pliable sat sneaking among them."-Bunyan: Pilgrim's Progre , pt. i. B. Transitive : *1. To hide, to conceal. 2. To steal, to pilfer. ( Slang .) sneak, *sneake, s. [SNEAK, v.] 1. A mean, cowardly, and treacherous fellow. "To pronounce all mankind besides to be a set of simpletons and superstitious sneaks." -Glanvill: Sermon 4. 2. A petty thief. ( Slang . ) *sneak-cup, #sneake-cuppe, subst. One who sneaks from his cup or liquor; a paitry fellow. "How? The prince is a Jock, a sneak-cup, and if he were here, I would cudgel him like a dog if he were to say so."-Shakesp.: Henry IV ., Pt. 1., iii 3. *sneak-up, s. A corrupt reading for sneak-cup (q. v.). sneak-er, s . [Eng.sneak; -er .] 1. One who sneaks; a sneak; a paltry fellow. "Many had abandoned the faith, and more had been sneakers and time servers." - Water land : Works , iii. 420. *2. A small ve el of drink; a kind of punchbowl. "He walked up to the room where Joseph lay but finding him asleep, returned to take the other sneaker."Feelding: Joseph Andrews , bk. i., ch. xiii. sneak-I-ně , s. [Eng. sneaky; -ne .] Sneak ingne . IMG:content-1650.png:[blocks in formation] To have a sneaking notion for a woman : Το have a timid, half-concealed affection for her. sneak-ing-ly, adv . [Eng.sneaking: -ly.] In a sneaking manner; meanly, basely, servilely. "While you sneakingly submit, And beg for pardon at our feet." Butler: Lady's Answer to the Knight. sneak-Ing-ne , s. [Eng.sneaking: -ne .] The quality or state of being sneaking; meanne . "A sneakingne , which so implies a guilt, that where it proceeds not from a fault, it is one." -Boyle: Works, vi. 16. *snēaks-bỹ, s. [SNEAK, V.] A sneak; a paltry fellow. IMG:content-1651.png:[blocks in formation] 3739 *sněb, snebbe, v . t . [A form of snib or snub (q. v.).] [SNEAP.] To check, to chide, to reprimand. "On a time he cast him to scold And snebbe the good oak, for he was old." Spenser: Shepherd's Calendar ; Feb. sněck, *snecke, *snick, v. t. [SNECK, 8.] Το fasten with a latch or catch. "Keep them hard and fast snecked up, and it's a' very weel." Scott: Antiquary , ch. xxix. sněck, *snecke, snek, *snekke, *snick, subst. [Prob. from snack =snatch.] A latch; a catch or fastening of a door.