eep

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ip/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːp

Etymology 1

Imitative.

Interjection

eep (onomatopoeia)

1. An expression of surprise or dismay.
   • 1993, The Simpsons, Bart's Inner Child‎^[1]:

     Hot-dog vendor: “Get him!”
     Bart: “Eep.”

   • 2000, Adam Cadre, Ready, Okay!

     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^[2]:

     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):
  • See Thesaurus:wow
  • yikes

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: Or, New-York Monthly Magazine, 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..."

   • 1962, Jet Screamer, The Jetsons, "Eep opp ork ah ah! And that means 'I love you'!" (but, according to Elroy Jetson in the episode "A Date with Jet Screamer", he says Judy Jetson wrote it for him, "eep opp ork ah-ah" means "meet me tonight")[3] (Note: this reference is incorrect.)
   • 2002, Randy Peyser, Crappy to Happy [4]

     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 [5]

     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 [6]

     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^[7], →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

• Epe, p'ee, pee