Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Creeper

Creeper (krēp"ẽr) , noun

1.
One who, or that which, creeps; any creeping thing.
Standing waters are most unwholesome,... full of mites, creepers; slimy, muddy, unclean. — Burton
2.
(Botany) A plant that clings by rootlets, or by tendrils, to the ground, or to trees, etc.; as, the Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia).
3.
(Zoology) A small bird of the genus Certhia, allied to the wrens. The brown or common European creeper is Certhia familiaris, a variety of which (var. Americana) inhabits America; -- called also tree creeper and creeptree. The American black and white creeper is Mniotilta varia.
4.
A kind of patten mounted on short pieces of iron instead of rings; also, a fixture with iron points worn on a shoe to prevent one from slipping.
5.
A spurlike device strapped to the boot, which enables one to climb a tree or pole; -- called often telegraph creepers.
6.
A small, low iron, or dog, between the andirons.
7.
An instrument with iron hooks or claws for dragging at the bottom of a well, or any other body of water, and bringing up what may lie there.
8.
Any device for causing material to move steadily from one part of a machine to another, as an apron in a carding machine, or an inner spiral in a grain screen.
9.
(Architecture) Crockets. See Crocket.