crawl Hear it!

crawl¹ Definition

crawl (krôl)

intransitive verb

  1. to move slowly by dragging the body along the ground, as a worm
  2. to go on hands and knees; creep
  3. to move or go slowly or feebly
  4. to move or act in an abjectly servile manner
  5. to swarm or teem (with crawling things)

Etymology: ME craulen < ON krafla < Gmc base *krab-, *kreb-, to scratch (> Ger krabbeln): for IE base see crab

noun

  1. the act of crawling; slow movement
  2. a swimming stroke in which one lies prone, with the face in the water except when turned briefly sideward for breathing, and uses alternate overarm strokes and a flutter kick
  3. a bulletin, explanation, or credits run up or across a TV screen
  4. Brit., Slang pub-crawl

crawl¹ Related Forms

crawl′er noun

crawl¹ Idioms

make someone's flesh crawl

or make someone's skin crawl

to give someone a feeling of fear or repugnance, as if insects were crawling on his or her skin

crawl² Definition

crawl (krôl)

noun

an enclosure in shallow water for confining fish, turtles, etc.

Etymology: WIndDu kraal < Sp corral: see corral

crawl Synonyms

crawl

v.

  1. To move like an insect

    creep, worm along, wriggle, squirm, slither, move on hands and knees, go on hands and knees, writhe, grovel, snake, go on all fours*, worm one's way*, go on one's belly*; see also grovel.

  2. To move slowly

    inch, inch along, drag, plod, hang back, poke, go at a snail's pace; see also lag 1.

crawl and creep are often used interchangeably, but crawl, in its strict usage, suggests movement by dragging the prone body along the ground a snake crawls and creep suggests movement, often furtive, on all fours the cat crept up the stairs; figuratively, crawl connotes slowness, abjectness, or servility and creep connotes slow, stealthy, or insinuating progress

crawl Usage Examples

Object

insect: Pest and usage area For the control of flying and crawling insects on textiles.

Converse of object

dot: This effect is known as ' dot crawl ' or ' hanging dots ' .

Preposition: through

  • undergrowth: With the help of St Deny's star caretaker I crawled through thick undergrowth to feed a kinky hosepipe into the pond.
  • mud: They are able to swim or crawl through the mud using bristles, which look like legs.
  • tunnel: Right at the end we had the Ghostly Tunnel where everyone crawled through a narrow twisty tunnel full of horrible surprises.

Adjective modifier

  • flat-out: A flat-out crawl with silt on the floor appears to continue beyond this point.
  • wet: The main purpose of the descent was to push the wet crawl at the bottom.
  • sandy: A sandy crawl leads off left for about 50 meters to a low excavated section.
  • tight: To the right was a small chamber and a tight crawl.
  • awkward: Ahead, an awkward crawl by-passes the water and drops into the resumption beyond.

Modifies a noun

aswell: Lazerquest in town,its cheaper than PB also like the campus crawl idea aswell!

Noun used with modifier

  • draughting: The opposite wall to the draughting crawl was investigated via a traverse / climb: the passage descended for approximated 7m before ending.
  • colostomy: Paul and Rachael: squidge through first third of Colostomy crawl and back then stomp the streamway.
  • pub: Well, take the Students Union pub crawl, advertised with the flyer, 'The way to get wasted ' .
  • bedding: This passage doubles back on itself to a bedding plane crawl to a junction.
  • knee: A hands and knees crawl continues to a roomy passage with a pit to the right into Maple Leaf Aven.
  • flesh: Their rabid utterances against anyone who doesn't share their very narrow view of God, is enough to make your flesh crawl.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • along: From 9:00 to 12:00 the British forces crawled along from tree stump to tree stump.
  • through: I reluctantly crawled through only to come up in the quarry!
  • around: The smell attracts flies which crawl around in the slime, becoming covered in spores.