Crawl Definition

krôl

crawled, crawling, crawls

verb

crawled, crawling, crawls

To move slowly by dragging the body along the ground, as a worm does.

Webster's New World

To move slowly by dragging the body along the ground, as by pulling with the hands, as a very young baby does.

Webster's New World

To move or go slowly or feebly.

Webster's New World

To go on hands and knees; creep.

Webster's New World

To move or act in an abjectly servile manner.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

noun

crawls

The action of moving slowly on the hands or knees or dragging the body along the ground.

American Heritage

The act of crawling; slow movement.

Webster's New World

A 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.

Webster's New World

A bulletin, explanation, or credits run up or across a TV screen.

Webster's New World

Pub-crawl.

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

idiom

make someone's flesh crawl

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

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Crawl

Noun

Singular:

crawl

Plural:

crawls

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Crawl

make someone's flesh crawl

Origin of Crawl

Middle English crawlen, from Old Norse krafla (compare Danish kravle ‘to crawl, creep’, Swedish kravla), from Proto-Germanic *krablōną (compare Dutch krabbelen, Low German krabbeln, Middle High German krappeln), frequentative of Proto-Germanic *krabbōną ‘to scratch, scrape’. More at crab.

From Wiktionary
Middle English craulen from Old Norse krafla gerbh- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Afrikaans kraal enclosure for animals kraal

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
Compare kraal.

From Wiktionary