seep

B2 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /siːp/ UK /siːp/ See IPA manual

Minimal pairs

Sounds like cheap /tʃ/ vs /s/ Sounds like sheep /s/ vs /ʃ/

verb

Meanings

1

verb
to flow or leak slowly through small openings or pores

Water began to seep through the cracks in the wall.
2

verb
to gradually become known or spread

News of the scandal began to seep out to the public.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to flow or leak slowly... ooze trickle leak drip percolate

2 verb · to gradually become known... spreadinfiltratecreep permeatefilter through

Opposites

gush pour flood

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *sipōną ('to drip, trickle'), via Old English *sīpan ('to seep, percolate') and Middle English sīpen ('to ooze, trickle') into Modern English seep.

Topics

Describing Qualities

# seep

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** siːp
**IPA (UK):** siːp

## Meanings
1. to flow or leak slowly through small openings or pores
2. to gradually become known or spread

## Examples
- Water began to seep through the cracks in the wall.
- News of the scandal began to seep out to the public.

## Synonyms
- ooze
- trickle
- leak
- drip
- percolate
- spread
- infiltrate
- creep
- permeate

## Antonyms
- gush
- pour
- flood

## Etymology
From Proto-Germanic *sipōną ('to drip, trickle'), via Old English *sīpan ('to seep, percolate') and Middle English sīpen ('to ooze, trickle') into Modern English seep.

## AI Etymology
Seep comes from Proto-Germanic *sipōną ('to drip, trickle'), via Old English *sīpan ('to seep, percolate') and Middle English sīpen ('to ooze, trickle') into Modern English seep. In current use it is a verb meaning "to flow or leak slowly through small openings or pores". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The history is mainly one of transmission into English, with the older form and sense carried through borrowing or adaptation. For dictionary purposes, the important point is the continuity between the older form, the route into English, and the present lexical sense.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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seep

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