crawl
Use Crawl in a sentence
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.
verb (used with object)
8.
to visit or frequent a series of (especially bars): to crawl the neighborhood pubs.
00:10
Crawl
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
| to swindle, cheat, hoodwink, or hoax. |
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
noun
9.
act of crawling; a slow, crawling motion.
10.
a slow pace or rate of progress: Traffic slowed to a crawl.
11.
Swimming. a stroke in a prone position, characterized by alternate overarm movements combined with the flutter kick.
12.
Television, Movies. titles that slowly move across a screen, providing information.
Origin:
1150–1200; Middle English crawlen < Old Norse krafla; compare Danish kravle to crawl, creep
1150–1200; Middle English crawlen < Old Norse krafla; compare Danish kravle to crawl, creep
Related forms
crawl·ing·ly, adverb
Synonyms
1. 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.
1. 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To crawl
Collins
World English Dictionary
crawl1 (krɔːl) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb | |
| 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 |
| —n | |
| 7. | a slow creeping pace or motion |
| 8. | swimming Australian crawl, Also called: front crawl a stroke in which the feet are kicked like paddles while the arms reach forward and pull back through the water |
| [C14: probably from Old Norse krafla to creep; compare Swedish kravla, Middle Low German krabbelen to crawl, Old Norse krabbi | |
| 'crawlingly1 | |
| —adv | |
| crawl2 (krɔːl) | |
| —n | |
| an enclosure in shallow, coastal water for fish, lobsters, etc | |
| [C17: from Dutch kraal | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
crawl
c.1200, crewlen, from a Scand. source, perhaps O.N. krafla "to claw (one's way)." If there was an O.E. *craflian, it has not been recorded. Swimming sense is from 1903, the stroke developed by Frederick Cavill, well-known English swimmer who emigrated to Australia and modified the standard stroke of
the day after observing South Seas islanders. So called because the swimmer's motion in the water resembles crawling.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
If they do not, they should be quiet and crawl back into their paneled caves.
They use a muscle called a sticky foot to crawl along the seafloor.
Cranes and bulldozers crawl over a cleared space large enough to fit two shopping malls.
We have screened bottom boards, so that the mites hopefully fall through to the ground and don't crawl back into the hives.
Nearby Words
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