Word
crawl
US/ˈkɹɔɫ/
UK/kɹˈɔːl/
Definitions
01to move on hands and knees
v. to move along the ground on your hands and knees.
v. to move the body close to the ground using the hands and knees for traction.
“The baby started to crawl across the living room toward her favorite toy.”
“The soldiers were forced to crawl through the dense undergrowth to avoid detection by the enemy scouts stationed on the ridge.”
Synonyms
02to move very slowly
v. to move forward at a very slow speed, like cars in heavy traffic.
v. to progress at an exceptionally slow pace, often due to congestion or physical obstacles.
“Traffic was so bad that we had to crawl along the highway for three hours.”
“The project began to crawl as bureaucratic hurdles and funding delays sapped the team's initial momentum.”
03to index websites
v. to visit websites automatically to collect information for a search engine.
v. to systematically browse the World Wide Web using an automated program to index content for search engines.
“Search engines crawl millions of pages every day to keep their results updated.”
“The new algorithm changed how the bot would crawl dynamic pages, ensuring that frequently updated content was indexed more efficiently.”
Technical
04swimming stroke
n. a fast way of swimming where you move your arms over your head one after the other.
n. a swimming stroke performed in a prone position, characterized by alternate overarm movements and a flutter kick.
“She practiced her crawl for an hour to prepare for the swim meet.”
“The athlete's crawl was remarkably efficient, allowing him to maintain a steady lead throughout the final lap of the race.”
Synonyms
05scrolling text
n. text that moves across the bottom of a TV screen, usually for news or weather.
n. a horizontal or vertical scrolling display of text overlaid on a television or film image.
“The news crawl at the bottom of the screen announced the election results.”
“During the emergency broadcast, the crawl provided constant updates on the storm's trajectory while the main anchor interviewed local officials.”
Technical
Synonyms
06visiting several places
n. a social activity where you visit several bars or shops in one night.
n. an organized social activity involving a sequential visit to multiple establishments, typically bars.
“The students went on a pub crawl to celebrate the end of their exams.”
“The city's annual charity bar crawl attracted hundreds of participants, all dressed in matching festive costumes.”
Informal
Real-World Examples
“When hundreds or even thousands of residents try to leave at the same time, traffic can slow to a crawl.” “They’re crawling back in hopes of guaranteeing they can keep their titles when Prince William ascends the throne.” 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.
Compare kraal.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
Idioms
crawl before one walks — To learn the basics before doing something at a more advanced level.
crawl into a hole — To hide or disappear due to feelings of extreme embarrassment, shame, or helplessness; to withdraw from reality.
crawl over each other — To compete with others eagerly or fiercely in pursuit of the same goal(s).
crawl with — To include or be covered with swarms or large numbers of (something, especially insects or people); to have in great numbers or multitudes.
make someone's skin crawl — To frighten or disgust.
Domains
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/crawl