eep

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /iːp/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ip/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːp

Etymology 1

Imitative.

Interjection

eep

1. (onomatopoeia) An expression of surprise or dismay.
   • 1993, “Bart's Inner Child”, in The Simpsons‎^[1]:

     Hot-dog vendor: "Get him!"
     Bart: "Eep."

   • 2000, Adam Cadre, Ready, Okay!, New York: Harper Collins, →ISBN, →OCLC:

     Then she ripped the door off its hinges and bent the flimsy metal in half between her hands.
     "Eep," I said.

   • 2000, John Palisano, Journey Through Time, Authorhouse, →ISBN, page 9:

     On the opposite side a bottle crashed. Shards twinkle screamed in a circle around her head. “Eep,” she said, breathed, and nearly screamed.

Synonyms

• (expression of surprise): See Thesaurus:wow
• (expression of dismay): yikes, see Thesaurus:wow

See also

• eek
• meep

Noun

eep (plural eeps)

1. A short scream or yelp.
   • 1853, Charles Fenno Hoffman, Timothy Flint, Lewis Gaylord Clark, Kinahan Cornwallis, John Holmes Agnew, editors, The Knickerbocker, page 460:

     "Then the peepers begin on a high key, with a singularly sweet and lucid voice, somewhere betwixt a silver-whistle and a glass-bell, smacking little of the mid: 'Eep!-eep-eep-eep! ee ee-ee! eepee! eepee-peepee! peep-eep! eepepee! eepepee! eepepee!' accompanied by a few trills long continued..."

   • 2002, Randy Peyser, Crappy to Happy, Red Wheel, →ISBN, page 29:

     She encouraged them to express their teeny-tiniest selves with an “eep.”

Verb

eep (third-person singular simple present eeps, present participle eeping, simple past and past participle eeped)

1. To vocalise a short scream or yelp; to produce an eep.
   • 2002, Randy Peyser, Crappy to Happy, Red Wheel, →ISBN, page 29:

     Now there are fulfilled women happily “eeping” all over the Bay Area. I swear to you this is true.

   • 2002, Chris Crutcher, “The Other Pin”, in Athletic Shorts, Harper Collins, →ISBN, page 75:

     Petey’s voice rises to that preadolescent pitch it always hits when he feels his life spinning out of control. “Dues are what Boy Scouts pay,” he eeps.

   • 2003, John Treadwell Nichols, The Voice of the Butterfly, →ISBN, page 160:

     Before I could answer, a tiny green krait dropped out of Tristan’s nostril and slithered swiftly toward Susan’s sandaled feet: She eeped, dropped my arm, and fled for her life.

Etymology 2

Back-formation from eepy.

Noun

eep (countable and uncountable, plural eeps)

1. (Internet slang, humorous) Sleep.

Verb

eep (third-person singular simple present eeps, present participle eeping, simple past and past participle eeped or ept)

1. (Internet slang, humorous) To sleep.

Anagrams

• pee, p'ee, Pee, Epe, PEE