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.

   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 called: Australian crawl.  front 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

Other Word Forms

• crawlingly 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

Police released several gas canisters into a house where Groves was believed to be hiding, and then found him hiding in a crawl space, CBS News, BBC's US partner, reported.

Read more on BBC

We swam until our feet touched the sandy bottom and crawled out happy but exhausted.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But, having crawled through a broken carriage window, Cooper calmly walked to the nearest street, hailed a taxi, and went to a pre-arranged meeting at the Ritz.

Read more on BBC

“Indy will crawl out of bed and weave in between Todd’s legs and look up at him just adoringly, like he really loves him, because that’s what we do every day,” said Leonberg.

Read more on Salon

County — where proceedings are known to crawl along due to frequent delays and a pandemic-fueled backlog — the path to justice was painfully slow.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

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

When To Use

What does crawl mean?

To crawl is to move along, close to the ground, either by wriggling the body or using hands and knees, as in The baby crawled along the floor on her hands and knees.Many types of animals crawl along the ground, such as worms, caterpillars, and snakesTo crawl also means to creep or to extend tendrils, like a vine up a ladder.More generally, to crawl means to move slowly or with a lot of effort, as in School was so boring today that the time just crawled along.To crawl also means to visit a series of similar businesses, most commonly bars or pubs. A pub crawl is an event during which participants will visit several pubs, one after another.Example: The traffic slowed to a crawl on my way home from work because of an accident.