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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

seep en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • /siːp/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • sēp

Etymology

Variant of sipe, from Middle English *sipen, from Old English sipian, from Proto-Germanic *sipōną, derivative of *sīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *sib- (“to pour out, drip, trickle”). See also Middle Dutch sīpen (“to drip”), German Low German siepern (“to seep”), archaic German seifen (“to trickle blood”); also Latin sēbum (“suet, tallow”), Ancient Greek εἴβω (eíbō, “to drop, drip”)). See soap.

Meanings

  1. A small spring, pool, or other spot where liquid from the ground (e.g. water, petroleum or tar) has oozed to the surface; a place of seeping.
  2. Moisture, liquid, gas, etc. that seeps out; a seepage.
  3. The seeping away of a liquid, etc.
  4. A seafloor vent.
    • Another idea was that filamentous bacteria covering the hairs [of the Yeti crab] would either neutralize gases emitted from the vent or serve the crab directly as a food source. And this last idea received support when a second species of Yeti crab was discovered on cold seeps on the deep-sea floor near Costa Rica. 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 356:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
seeps Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

seep mudalia · seep monkeyflower

Relateds

sip · siphon

Translations (16)

es fuente (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · ja にじみ (a seepage) · pt jazida (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · pt infiltração (a seepage) · ja にじみ (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · pl wyciek (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · es filtración (a seepage) · gl illó (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · bal زے (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · it infiltrazione (a seepage) · es emanación (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · gl bullo (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · bg утечка (a seepage) · it sorgente (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · sq burim (a place where water seeps out of the ground) · pl wyciek (a seepage)

seep en · VERB

Pronunciation

  • /siːp/
  • (Southern-England) audio
  • sēp

Etymology

Variant of sipe, from Middle English *sipen, from Old English sipian, from Proto-Germanic *sipōną, derivative of *sīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *seyb-, *sib- (“to pour out, drip, trickle”). See also Middle Dutch sīpen (“to drip”), German Low German siepern (“to seep”), archaic German seifen (“to trickle blood”); also Latin sēbum (“suet, tallow”), Ancient Greek εἴβω (eíbō, “to drop, drip”)). See soap.

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To ooze or pass slowly through pores or other small openings, and in overly small quantities; said of liquids, etc.
    • Water has seeped through the roof.
    • The water steadily seeped in through the thirl.
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To enter or penetrate slowly; to spread or diffuse.
    • Fear began to seep into the local community over the contamination of their fishpond.
    • Woe seeped through her heart thinking of what had befallen their ethnic group.
  3. (figuratively, intransitive) To diminish or wane away slowly.
    • The resistance movement against the invaders had slowly seeped away.
  4. (transitive) (of a crack etc.) To allow a liquid to pass through, to leak.
    • Just when I thought I was done checking it over, I smelled coolant....remove the engine cover and bam! 1 inch crack is seeping coolant! 2009 April 16, Crownvic forums:
    • The crack is seeping water.
    • If the crack is seeping water, the foam totally stops the leakage. 2015, Crack repair service, archived from the original on 23 Feb 2020:
  5. (Scotland) To soak.
    • a young lad's mind, whilk had seeped in, for many a day, the rain of adversity 1897, W. Beatty, The Secretar: Based on the Story of the Casket Letters [quoted in the EDD], page 108:
    • wi' the weet / We're seepit to the skin 1844, James Lemon, editor, Lays of St. Mungo; Or, The Minstrelsy of the West [quoted in the EDD]:

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
seeps Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
seeped Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
seeped Tense=Past lexicographic
seeping Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

seeper · seepy · seepweed

Synonyms

leak

Translations (36)

cs pronikat (to ooze through pores) · lt sunktis (to ooze through pores) · ru проса́чиваться (to ooze through pores) · my စိမ့် (to ooze through pores) · it penetrare (to ooze through pores) · cs prosakovat (to ooze through pores) · ru просочи́ться (to ooze through pores) · it infiltrarsi (to ooze through pores) · fr s'exfiltrer (to ooze through pores) · bg просмуквам се (to ooze through pores) · pl sączyć się (to ooze through pores) · es trazumar (to ooze through pores) · gl rever (to ooze through pores) · fi tihkua (to ooze through pores) · uk просочуватися (to ooze through pores) · ja にじみ出る (to ooze through pores) · gv sheel (to ooze through pores) · sv sippra (to ooze through pores) · gl zumegar (to ooze through pores) · th ซึม (to ooze through pores) · uk протікати (to ooze through pores) · mi papī (to ooze through pores) · sh curiti (to ooze through pores) · pt escoar (to ooze through pores) · mi pahī (to ooze through pores) · tr sızmak (to ooze through pores) · sh cijediti se (to ooze through pores) · cmn 渗出 (to ooze through pores) · es rezumar (to ooze through pores) · it trasudare (to ooze through pores) · ru сочи́ться (to ooze through pores) · fi vuotaa (to ooze through pores) · lt skverbtis (to ooze through pores) · fr suinter (to ooze through pores) · de durchsickern (to ooze through pores) · sq sit (to ooze through pores)