crawl

¹

[ krawl ]

verb (used without object)

1. to move in a prone position with the body resting on or close to the ground, as a worm or caterpillar, or on the hands and knees, as a young child.
2. (of plants or vines) to extend tendrils; creep.
3. to move or progress slowly or laboriously:

   The line of cars crawled behind the slow-moving truck.

   The work just crawled until we got the new machines.

4. to behave in a remorseful, abject, or cringing manner:

   Don't come crawling back to me asking for favors.

5. to be, or feel as if, overrun with crawling things:

   The hut crawled with lizards and insects.

6. Ceramics. (of a glaze) to spread unevenly over the surface of a piece.
7. (of paint) to raise or contract because of an imperfect bond with the underlying surface.

verb (used with object)

1. to visit or frequent a series of (similar businesses, especially bars):

   to crawl the neighborhood pubs.

2. Digital Technology. to digitally survey (websites) using a computer program, as in order to index web pages for a search engine: Compare spider ( def 10 ).

   Search engines are constantly crawling the web.

noun

1. the act of crawling; a slow, crawling motion.
2. the visiting of a series of similar businesses, especially bars:

   a beer crawl;

   a museum crawl.

3. a slow pace or rate of progress:

   Traffic slowed to a crawl.

4. Swimming. a stroke in a prone position, characterized by alternate overarm movements combined with the flutter kick.
5. Television, Movies. titles that slowly move across a screen, providing information.

crawl

²

[ krawl ]

noun

, Chiefly South Atlantic States.

1. an enclosure in shallow water on the seacoast, as for confining fish, turtles, etc.:

   a crab crawl.

crawl

¹

/ krɔːl /

verb

1. to move slowly, either by dragging the body along the ground or on the hands and knees
2. to proceed or move along very slowly or laboriously

   the traffic crawled along the road

3. to act or behave in a servile manner; fawn; cringe
4. to be or feel as if overrun by something unpleasant, esp crawling creatures

   the pile of refuse crawled with insects

5. (of insects, worms, snakes, etc) to move with the body close to the ground
6. to swim the crawl

noun

1. a slow creeping pace or motion
2. Also calledAustralian crawlfront crawl swimming a stroke in which the feet are kicked like paddles while the arms reach forward and pull back through the water

crawl

²

/ krɔːl /

noun

1. an enclosure in shallow, coastal water for fish, lobsters, etc

Derived Forms

• ˈcrawlingly, adverb

Other Words From

• crawling·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of crawl¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English craulen, crallen, from Old Norse krafla; compare Danish kravle “to crawl, creep”

Origin of crawl²

First recorded in 1650–60; from Dutch kraal, from Spanish corral corral; kraal

Word History and Origins

Origin of crawl¹

C14: probably from Old Norse krafla to creep; compare Swedish kravla, Middle Low German krabbelen to crawl, Old Norse krabbi crab ¹

Origin of crawl²

C17: from Dutch kraal kraal

Synonym Study

Crawl, creep refer to methods of moving like reptiles or worms, or on all fours. They are frequently interchangeable, but crawl is used of a more prostrate movement than creep : A dog afraid of punishment crawls toward his master. Creep expresses slow progress: A child creeps before walking or running.

Example Sentences

The noises were no stray opossum or raccoon but a man — reportedly naked and, authorities said, living in the crawl space underneath the woman’s home.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump continues to lower the bar and the Democrats can’t manage to crawl over it.

From Salon

In September, BBC Security Correspondent Frank Gardner, who uses a wheelchair, had to crawl along the floor of a Polish Airlines LOT plane in order to reach the toilet.

From BBC

In August, Baroness Grey-Thompson was forced to "crawl off" a train arriving at London's King's Cross after waiting in vain for assistance for 20 minutes.

From BBC

They will not crawl back to the kitchen just because some bitter weirdos call them "cat ladies" on Twitter.

From Salon

Related Words

• clamber
• creep
• drag
• inch
• plod
• poke
• slide
• slither
• squirm
• wriggle