crawl

Noun · Verb
Synonyms: front crawlAustralian crawlcrawlingcreepcreepingfawncringecowergrovel

WordNet 3.0

Noun (3)

  1. a very slow movement“the traffic advanced at a crawl”
  2. a swimming stroke; arms are moved alternately overhead accompanied by a flutter kickSynonyms: front crawlAustralian crawl
  3. a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body“a crawl was all that the injured man could manage”“the traffic moved at a creep”Synonyms: crawlingcreepcreeping

Verb (5)

  1. move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground“The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed”Synonyms: creep
  2. feel as if crawling with insects“My skin crawled--I was terrified”
  3. be full of“The old cheese was crawling with maggots”
  4. show submission or fearSynonyms: fawncreepcringecowergrovel
  5. swim by doing the crawl“European children learn the breast stroke; they often don't know how to crawl”
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Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Crawl \Crawl\ (kr?l), n. The act or motion of crawling; slow motion, as of a creeping animal. [1913 Webster]
Crawl \Crawl\, n. [Cf. Kraal.] A pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish. [1913 Webster]
Crawl \Crawl\ (kr[add]l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Crawled (kr[add]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Crawling.] [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kr[aum]la to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]

1.To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep. [1913 Webster]

A worm finds what it searches after only by feeling, as it crawls from one thing to another.— Grew.[1913 Webster]

2.Hence, to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner. [1913 Webster]

He was hardly able to crawl about the room.— Arbuthnot.[1913 Webster]
The meanest thing that crawl'd beneath my eyes.— Byron.[1913 Webster]

3.To advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct. [1913 Webster]

Secretly crawling up the battered walls.— Knolles.[1913 Webster]
Hath crawled into the favor of the king.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
Absurd opinions crawl about the world.— South.[1913 Webster]

4.To have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls. See Creep, v. i., 7. [1913 Webster]

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