crawl
verb (used without object)
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.
crawled
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past participleof crawl.past participle
A verb form used in perfect and passive verb constructions and that can also function as a modifier.
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past tense formof crawl.past tense
Used to describe completed actions or previous habitual actions.
crawlverb (used without object)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.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
On Saturday, it will be 45 days since an olive ridley sea turtle crawled out of the surf and deposited a clutch of eggs near the Surfside community in Seal Beach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2026
A woman was close by talking to him, she said, before "he jumped in and crawled in front of the tiger, where the tiger was perched and just lay there".
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Then I began to worry that the van would run me over, so I crawled out from underneath and banged on the window.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Well, we didn’t walk out of it. We crawled out of it, but we did get out of it alive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
She crawled backward out of the box and went to the front window.
From "Wolfie & Fly" by Cary Fagan
