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# sneak

«sneak» in Mova's school dictionary: **to go somewhere quietly and secretly so nobody sees or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (sneak, sneaks, sneaked/snuck, sneaking); noun (a sneak, sneaks); adjective (sneak — a sneak peek)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To sneak is to go somewhere quietly and secretly so nobody sees or hears you. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#m1)

2) To sneak something is to take or do it secretly: «sneak a biscuit». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#m2)

3) A sneak is a person who does things secretly or tells tales on others (UK, informal). [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories characters sneak past guards or sneak downstairs at night. In lessons about honesty, sneaking things is a kind of trick or lie. Phrases: «sneak in», «sneak out», «sneak up on», «sneak a look», «a sneak peek», «sneak attack».

### examples

- We sneaked into the kitchen for a midnight snack. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x1)
- The cat sneaked up on the bird. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x2)
- He tried to sneak a look at my answers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x3)
- Don't sneak out without telling your parents. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x4)
- Here's a sneak peek of the new book! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x5)
- She snuck a sweet into her pocket. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x6)
- Now, one day Edmund made a new lantern out of something chemical that he sneaked from the school laboratory. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/#x7)

### note

Past: «sneaked» (standard, UK and US) or «snuck» (common in the US, informal). Adjective: «sneaky». «Sneakers» (US) are trainers — soft shoes you can move quietly in.

### In the corpora

- [Not for playing a demo, his mum said, but for sneaking.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/404-parents-rules-for-big-games/24/)
- [A calm, polite request with good reasons is more likely to be listened to than nagging or sneaking.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/404-parents-rules-for-big-games/35/)
- [In Galway, Darragh sneaks a biscuit and Aoibheann says nothing; next day she sneaks one and he says nothing.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/509-the-favourite-the-black-sheep-covering-and-hand-me-downs/16/)
- [Sneaking out at night is dangerous because nobody knows where you are if something goes wrong.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/reflection/17-old-guilt-secrets-that-grow-and-how-to-let-them-go/18/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «sneak» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/sneak/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.