From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishsneaksneak1 /sniːk/ ●○○ verb (past tense and past participle sneaked or snuck /snʌk/ American English) 1 go secretly [intransitive always + adverb/preposition]WALKENTER to go somewhere secretly and quietly in order to avoid being seen or heard SYN creepsneak in/out/away etc They sneaked off without paying! She snuck out of the house once her parents were asleep.► see thesaurus at walk2 take/give secretly [transitive]HIDE/MAKE IT HARD TO FIND OR SEE to hide something and take it somewhere or give it to someone secretly I snuck her a note.sneak something through/past etc somebody/something Douglas had sneaked his camera into the show.3 → sneak a look/glance/peek4 steal [transitive] informalSTEAL to quickly and secretly steal something unimportant or of little valuesneak something from somebody We used to sneak cigarettes from Dad. → sneak on somebody → sneak up→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
sneak• It wasn't hard to sneak a copy of the tutor's program and take it back to her room.• Even Mr Ratburn sneaks a laugh.• Camille, who had sneaked in unseen to borrow the garlic-crusher, overheard this exchange and smiled.• The thieves sneaked in while the guard had his back turned.• I think it's going to sneak into each set of young people in each country.• The question came sneaking into her mind and, once there, it proved difficult to dislodge.• We tried to sneak off from work early.• Instead, Wait sneaked off the sub and went back to his quarters and changed into a uniform.• Deion sneaked up behind the announcer, who was wired for sound, and doused him with ice water.sneak in/out/away etc• Has even the tiniest ray of light sneaked in?• I felt like I had sneaked in.• I was only the caddie, so I sneaked out.• But if an intruder does sneak in, all is not necessarily lost.• If she'd been sneaking out at night to meet Gabriel, Veronica could have heard her - and seen them.• The boys had said nothing of their plans to their parents, before sneaking away last December 23.• The Little Sprouts sneak out of the house with some extra veggies.• Musicians were so desperate to hear Michelangeli that they borrowed violin cases and sneaked in through the stage door.sneaksneak2 noun [countable] 1 British English informalTELL a child who other children dislike, because they tell adults about bad things that the other children have done You little sneak!2 American English informal someone who is not liked because they do things secretly and cannot be trustedExamples from the Corpus
sneak• He was knocked out just short, but Young quickly got the touchdown on a sneak.• In time, the system settles down and householders and sneaks pass on genes with equal efficiency.• Ting, a senior quarterback, capped the Riordan scoring with a pair of 1-yard sneaks.sneaksneak3 adjective [only before noun] doing things very secretly and quickly, so that people do not notice you or cannot stop you a sneak attack a sneak thiefOrigin sneak1 (1500-1600) Perhaps from Old English snican “to creep” 