seep

verb

\ ˈsēp

seeped; seeping; seeps

Definition of seep

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1 : to flow or pass slowly through fine pores or small openings : ooze water seeped in through a crack

2a : to enter or penetrate slowly fear of nuclear war had seeped into the national consciousness —Tip O'Neill

b : to become diffused or spread a sadness seeped through his being —Agnes S. Turnbull

seep

noun

Definition of seep (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : a spot where a fluid (such as water, oil, or gas) contained in the ground oozes slowly to the surface and often forms a pool

b : a small spring

2 : seepage

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Examples of seep in a Sentence

Verb

Blood was seeping through the bandage. The chemicals seeped into the ground.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

On another page, a closeup of his swollen face, where a trickle of blood seeped from the ears, clippings of grass stuck to his white skin. — Liz Arnold, Longreads, "Making Peace with the Site of a Suicide," 11 July 2018 Water pooled on the BBVA Compass Roof Garden and found its way inside by seeping under a door atop an open stairwell that leads visitors to the roof, temporarily creating an unwelcome waterfall. — Molly Glentzer, Houston Chronicle, "When it rained, it poured Wednesday inside Houston’s new Glassell School," 5 July 2018 In Yellowstone, this happens as magma seeps up from the mantle, a vast semi-solid region below the Earth’s crust. — Kevin Davenport, idahostatesman, "Yellowstone's magma chamber is more powerful than we knew. Here's why studying it matters.," 3 July 2018 The peril is that this form of divisive politics will seep deeper into the tapestry of the illiberal anti-immigrant pan-European movement. — Amro Ali, Time, "Denmark’s “Ghetto” Policies Are an Ominous Sign That Liberal Europe Is Starting to Unravel at the Seams," 3 July 2018 Hope and a sense of possibility seep into every page of this book, driven in part by immigrants and refugees, a population that challenges contemporary urban defeatism. — Staff, The Christian Science Monitor, "10 best books of June: the Monitor's picks," 14 June 2018 The story everyone was talking about but wouldn't talk about had seeped into baseball's business side, too. — Ron Richmond For The Oregonian/oregonlive, OregonLive.com, "Inside Luke Heimlich's senior season with the Oregon State baseball team," 8 June 2018 Bad lending practices started seeping into the market in 2003, and five years later the global economy was in free-fall. — Jeff Andrews, Curbed, "Wall Street’s new housing frontier: Single-family rental homes," 18 May 2018 Gambling references have already started to seep into mainstream sports coverage in a way that would have been strictly forbidden not so long ago. — Phil Rosenthal, chicagotribune.com, "If the U.S. Supreme Court lets states legalize sports betting, media might make a wager," 11 May 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

The precious presence of water is a fickle one, requiring a micro-filtration device to eek out ounces rather than gallons from seeps and springs often frequented by wildlife. — Peter Reese, Popular Mechanics, "4 Reasons Why You Need To Hike the Sonoran Desert," 2 May 2018 Protections also were added for methane seeps, undersea areas where the gas leaking out of the ocean bottom helps sustain sea life. — Hal Bernton, The Seattle Times, "Conservationists, West Coast bottom fishermen embrace ‘grand bargain’," 16 Apr. 2018 Duke also agrees to pay an $84,000 fine for leaking polluted water from the ponds into the Catawba and Broad rivers. Draining the ponds is expected to eliminate or reduce those leaks, which are called seeps. — Bruce Henderson And Deon Roberts, charlotteobserver, "Want to help speed up coal ash cleanup near Charlotte? Here’s how.," 9 Jan. 2018 Okoronkwo let his frustration with football seep into his schoolwork. — Bruce Feldman, SI.com, "The Unlikely Rise of Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, Oklahoma's Defensive MVP," 27 Dec. 2017 Detailing their results in the journal Environmental Health, researchers explain the chemical exposure came from the bitumen, which washes up to the Channel Islands from underwater seeps. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Drinking From Ancient Water Bottles Didn’t Hurt Indigenous People—Making Them Did," 29 June 2017 Detailing their results in the journal Environmental Health, researchers explain the chemical exposure came from the bitumen, which washes up to the Channel Islands from underwater seeps. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Drinking From Ancient Water Bottles Didn’t Hurt Indigenous People—Making Them Did," 29 June 2017 The Inupiat showed their visitors how wedges of tundra soaked with oil from seeps could be cut, hauled back to villages, and used as fuel. — Tim Bradner, Alaska Dispatch News, "There’s rich history in Native corporation’s bid to become an oil company," 12 July 2017 Detailing their results in the journal Environmental Health, researchers explain the chemical exposure came from the bitumen, which washes up to the Channel Islands from underwater seeps. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Drinking From Ancient Water Bottles Didn’t Hurt Indigenous People—Making Them Did," 29 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'seep.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.