English Explanatory Dictionary

crawl

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To creep; to move slowly on hands and knees, or by dragging the body along the ground.
  2. To move forward slowly, with frequent stops.
  3. To act in a servile manner.
  4. Followed by with: see crawl with.
  5. To feel a swarming sensation.
  6. To swim using the crawl stroke.
  7. To move over (an area) on hands and knees.
  8. To move over (an area) slowly, with frequent stops.
  9. To visit files or web sites in order to index them for searching.
noun
  1. The act of moving slowly on hands and knees, etc.
  2. The act of sequentially visiting a series of similar establishments (i.e., a bar crawl).
  3. A rapid swimming stroke with alternate overarm strokes and a fluttering kick.
  4. A very slow pace.
  5. A piece of horizontally or vertically scrolling text overlaid on the main image.
noun
  1. A pen or enclosure of stakes and hurdles for holding fish.

Pronunciation

krôl /kɹɔːl/ /kɹaːl/ /kɹɔl/ kräl /kɹɑl/ /kɹoːl/ en-us-crawl.ogg

Word forms

crawl crawls crawling crawled

Etymology

From Middle English crawlen, crewlen, creulen, crallen, *cravelen, from Old Norse krafla (compare Danish kravle (“to crawl, creep”), Swedish kravla, kräla (“to creep, crawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *krablōną (compare Saterland Frisian krabbelje, Dutch krabbelen, German Low German krabbeln, German krabbeln), frequentative of *krabbōną (“to scratch, scrape”). Compare also Saterland Frisian krauelje (“to crawl, scuttle”), West Frisian kreauwelje (“to crawl”), Dutch krevelen, krieuwelen (“to crawl”), German Low German kribbeln, German kribbeln (“to creep, crawl, tingle”). See also crab, crabble.

Synonyms

creep inch plod scuttle wriggle kowtow grovel

Antonyms

run walk sprint lope

Related words

trudge sneak

Derived words

acrawl backcrawl becrawl bellycrawl crawlable crawl-a-bottom crawl before one can walk crawl before one walks crawler crawl-in crawlingly crawlingness crawling peg crawl into a hole crawl out of the woodwork crawl over each other crawlsome crawl up someone's ass crawlway crawly cross-crawl flesh-crawling kerb crawling make someone's skin crawl newscrawl outcrawl recrawl skin-crawling upcrawl wallcrawl army crawl Australian crawl back crawl bear crawl crab crawl crawl control crawl space dot crawl dungeon crawl front crawl hex crawl high crawl kerb crawl leopard crawl news crawl pub crawl tiger crawl urban crawl zombie crawl turtle crawl turtle-crawl
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