What is "tree creeper"

Creeper \Creep"er\ (kr[=e]p"[~e]r), n.

1. One who, or that which, creeps; any creeping thing.

   Standing waters are most unwholesome, . . . full of mites, creepers; slimy, muddy, unclean.
   --Burton.

2. (Bot.) A plant that clings by rootlets, or by tendrils, to the ground, or to trees, etc.; as, the Virginia creeper (Ampelopsis quinquefolia).

3. (Zo["o]l.) 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. pl. 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. pl. 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. pl. (Arch.) Crockets. See Crocket.

1. n. any of various small insectivorous birds of the northern hemisphere that climb about on trees [syn: creeper]

2. any of numerous South American and Central American birds with a curved bill and stiffened tail feathers that climb and feed like woodpeckers [syn: woodhewer, woodcreeper, wood-creeper]