▪ I. seep, n.
(siːp)
Also seip.
[Related to seep v. (Perh. repr. OE. sipe: see sipe, sip ns.)]
1. Moisture that drips or oozes out. dial.
| 1825 Jamieson Suppl., Sipage,..Seip, leakage. 1834 Brit. Husb. I. 414 In Ireland..every peasant..bottoms his dung⁓stead with stuff drawn from the bogs, that he may thus preserve the seep or gooding, as he terms it, of his stable⁓manure. 1871 P. H. Waddell Psalms Pref. 1 Thar's the saft seep o' the cluds an' the dour chirt o' the cranreuch. |
2. A small spring; U.S., a place where petroleum oozes out slowly (Webster, 1911).
| 1824 Mactaggart Gallovid. Encycl. 424 Seeps, sypes or sykes, trivial springs. 1902 Nature 4 Dec. 113/1 At Comanche Spring, a small ‘seep’,..the limestone bluffs have been covered in a number of places with rude paintings of characteristic Indian design. 1903 Bull. U.S. Geol. Survey No. 212. 97 In this well small seeps or pockets of petroleum were found at several depths. 1966 McGraw-Hill Encycl. Sci. & Technol. X. 60/2 Almost without exception, seeps are at topographically low spots where water has accumulated. Oil..rises to the surface of the water, covering it with an iridescent film. 1972 Science 16 June 1257/2 The existence of submarine seeps is often mentioned in discussions of oil pollution. |
3. A sip of liquor. dial.
| 1897 E. W. Hamilton Outlaws xvii. 187 I've mair than a mind to rin doun..and see if I canna light on a stolum o' bread and a seip o' milk maybe. 1901 R. Buchanan Poems 157 (E.D.D.) Anither bit seep, wi' her han' below the glass in case o' ony scaling. |
▪ II. seep, v. Formerly dial. and U.S.
(siːp)
Also seap, seip.
[Perh. repr. OE. sipian: see sipe v.]
intr. To ooze, drip, trickle: = sipe v. Also fig.
| 1790 A. Wilson Ep. to Brother Pedlar Poet. Wks. 173 Rain seeps through the thack. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xvii, That canna hinder the bluid seiping through. 1882 Cable Dr. Sevier xv, Water seeps up through the side-walks. 1922 H. Crane Let. 6 May (1965) 85 A new literary magazine.., Secession, which is (first number) just seeping into this country. 1931 W. G. McAdoo Crowded Years xviii. 284 The..emotions generated by the European struggle seeped into American thought. 1942 R.A.F. Jrnl. 13 June 13 The Commandos had been part of the British Army for about eight months before they seeped into print. 1955 A. L. Rowse Expansion Elizabethan England iv. 141 In 1585 a plan for peopling Munster was drawn up... Meanwhile the Irish came seeping back. a 1974 R. Crossman Diaries (1976) II. 453 One thing I learnt from my brief visit was how well-informed the Transport House staff are about internal Cabinet affairs and how they seep with anti-Government gossip. |
Hence ˈseeping ppl. a.
| 1927 M. Eiker Over Boat-Side xi. 161 The nagging, monotonous, unessential, seeping harassments that sap a man of achievement. |
▪ III. seep
obs. form of sheep.