Word forms: 3rd person singular presenttense crawls, present participle crawling, past tense, past participle crawled
1. verb
When you crawl, you move forward on your hands and knees.
Don't worry if your baby seems a little reluctant to crawl or walk. [VERB]
I began to crawl on my hands and knees towards the door. [VERB preposition/adverb]
As he tried to crawl away, he was hit in the shoulder. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Synonyms: creep, slither, go on all fours, move on hands and knees More Synonyms of crawl
2. verb
When an insect crawls somewhere, it moves there quite slowly.
I watched the moth crawl up the outside of the lampshade. [VERB preposition]
3. verb
If someone or something crawls somewhere, they move or progress slowly or with great difficulty.
I crawled out of bed at nine-thirty. [VERB preposition/adverb]
They had not foreseen the higher inflation in France when most of Western Europewas crawling out of recession. [VERB preposition/adverb]
Hairpin turns force the car to crawl at 10 miles an hour in some places. [VERB]
Crawl is also a noun.
The traffic on the approach road slowed to a crawl.
4. verb [only cont]
If you say that a place is crawling with people or animals, you are emphasizing that it is full of them.
[informal, emphasis]
This place is crawling with police. [VERB + with]
...rock-hard earth littered with rubbish and crawling with vermin. [VERBwith noun]
5. singular noun
The crawl is a kind of swimming stroke which you do lying on your front, swinging one arm over your head, and then the other arm.
6.
See to make your skin crawl
7. See also kerb-crawling, pub crawl
More Synonyms of crawl
crawl in British English1
(krɔːl)
verb(intransitive)
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
7.
a slow creeping pace or motion
8. 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
Derived forms
crawlingly (ˈcrawlingly)
adverb
Word origin
C14: probably from Old Norse krafla to creep; compare Swedish kravla, Middle Low German krabbelen to crawl, Old Norse krabbicrab1
crawl in British English2
(krɔːl)
noun
an enclosure in shallow, coastal water for fish, lobsters, etc
Word origin
C17: from Dutch kraalkraal
crawl in American English1
(krɔl)
verb intransitive
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)
noun
6.
the act of crawling; slow movement
7.
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
8.
a bulletin, explanation, or credits run up or across a TV screen
9. British, Slang
pub-crawl
Idioms:
make someone's flesh crawl
SYNONYMY NOTE: crawl1, in its strict usage, suggests movement by dragging the prone body along the ground[a snake crawls] and, figuratively, connotes abjectness or servility; creep suggests movement, often furtive, on all fours [a baby creeps] and, figuratively, connotes slow, stealthy, or insinuating progress
Derived forms
crawler (ˈcrawler)
noun
crawl in American English2
(krɔl)
noun
an enclosure in shallow water for confining fish, turtles, etc.
Word origin
WIndDu kraal < Sp corral: see corral
More idioms containing
crawl
make your skin crawl
Examples of 'crawl' in a sentence
crawl
It is the creeper that needs something to crawl up.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Can you give me four lengths, front crawl?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Since then, progress has slowed to a crawl.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
HERE'S a real tiger in a tank... and it looks like she's doing the front crawl.
The Sun (2016)
If you want a faster front crawl, hold your fingers apart like a rake, not together like a paddle.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Traffic going in the opposite direction slowed to a crawl.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
We had to leave after two nights because the whole place was crawling with insects.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
There must have been hundreds more who had crawled away into the jungle to die.
Max Hastings Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 194445 (2007)
She was still conscious and crawled back down the track.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Worried one might crawl back up my gullet.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It crawls at the pace of an ailing rock.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
She crawled out slowly onto the plank.
Christianity Today (2000)
The admin worker woke when she felt something crawling on her.
The Sun (2014)
Look down to each side as though you are doing front crawl.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
There have been numerous attacks in recent years as people were trapped in the crawling traffic.
The Sun (2011)
When they are miles high in the air they can count the ants crawling on the ground.
Hugh Lofting The Story of Doctor Dolittle (1920)
This is where time slows to a crawl.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Soon the place was crawling with them.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Many were killed as they tried to crawl back to shelter.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
He is another one who crawled out of the woodwork.
The Sun (2008)
He crawled forward, clutching his gun.
Aldiss, Brian Somewhere East of Life (1994)
Although some viewers might liken the crawling pace of the action to watching corn grow, others will equally reap the benefits of patience.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Now there's a proper stroke, the crawl.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
I crawled to the road and screamed until a car stopped,' she recalled.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
In other languages
crawl
British English: crawl /krɔːl/ VERB
When you crawl, you move forward on your hands and knees.
Her baby has just learned to crawl.
American English: crawl
Arabic: يَزْحَفُ
Brazilian Portuguese: engatinhar
Chinese: 爬行
Croatian: puzati
Czech: plazit se
Danish: kravle
Dutch: kruipen
European Spanish: gatear
Finnish: ryömiä
French: ramper
German: kriechen
Greek: σέρνομαι
Italian: strisciare
Japanese: 這う
Korean: 기다
Norwegian: krype
Polish: pełzać
European Portuguese: gatinhar
Romanian: a se târî
Russian: ползать
Latin American Spanish: arrastrarse
Swedish: krypa
Thai: คลาน
Turkish: emeklemek
Ukrainian: повзти
Vietnamese: bò dưới đất
All related terms of 'crawl'
pub-crawl
If people go on a pub crawl , they go from one pub to another having drinks in each one.
back crawl
a stroke performed on the back, using backward circular strokes of each arm alternately and flipper movements of the feet
crawl space
a narrow space in a building giving access to wiring and plumbing
front crawl
a style of swimming in which the swimmer faces downwards and moves their arms alternately in strokes
Australian crawl
a stroke in which the feet are kicked like paddles while the arms reach forward and pull back through the water
make your skin crawl
to make you feel disgust
make someone's flesh crawl
to give someone a feeling of fear or repugnance, as if insects were crawling on his or her skin
backstroke
Backstroke is a swimming stroke that you do on your back.
to make someone's flesh creep make sb's flesh crawl
If something makes your flesh creep or makes your flesh crawl , it makes you feel disgusted , shocked or frightened .
to make your skin crawl make sb's flesh crawl
If something makes your skin crawl or makes your flesh crawl , it makes you feel shocked or disgusted .
come out of the woodwork
If you say that people are coming out of the woodwork , you are criticizing them for suddenly appearing in public or revealing their opinions when previously they did not make themselves known.
Chinese translation of 'crawl'
crawl
(krɔːl)
vi
[adult, child, insect]爬 (pá)
[vehicle]徐缓(緩)而行 (xúhuǎn ér xíng)
(inf, = grovel)
to crawl (to sb)拍(某人的)马(馬)屁 (pāi (mǒurén de) mǎpì)
n(u)
(in swimming) (also the crawl) 自由泳 (zìyóuyǒng)
to do the crawl游自由泳 (yóu zìyóuyǒng)
to be crawling with (inf)[people, things]充满(滿)了 (chōngmǎnle)
to drive along at a crawl缓(緩)慢地行进(進) (huǎnmàn de xíngjìn)
1 (verb)
Definition
to move very slowly
I began to crawl on my hands and knees towards the door.