Definitions for crawl
krɔlcrawl

Princeton's WordNet(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. crawlnoun

   a very slow movement

   "the traffic advanced at a crawl"

2. crawl, front crawl, Australian crawlnoun

   a swimming stroke; arms are moved alternately overhead accompanied by a flutter kick

3. crawl, crawling, creep, creepingverb

   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"

4. crawl, creepverb

   move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground

   "The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed"

5. crawlverb

   feel as if crawling with insects

   "My skin crawled--I was terrified"

6. crawlverb

   be full of

   "The old cheese was crawling with maggots"

7. fawn, crawl, creep, cringe, cower, grovelverb

   show submission or fear

8. crawlverb

   swim by doing the crawl

   "European children learn the breast stroke; they often don't know how to crawl"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. crawlnoun

   The act of moving slowly on hands and knees etc, or with frequent stops

2. crawlnoun

   A rapid swimming stroke with alternate overarm strokes and a fluttering kick

3. crawlnoun

   A piece of horizontally scrolling text overlaid on the main image.

4. crawlverb

   To creep; to move slowly on hands and knees, or by dragging the body along the ground.

   Clutching my wounded side, I crawled back to the trench.

5. crawlverb

   To move forward slowly, with frequent stops.

   The rush-hour traffic crawled around the bypass.

6. crawlverb

   To act in a servile manner.

   Don't come crawling to me with your useless apologies!

7. crawlverb

   See crawl with.

8. crawlverb

   To feel a swarming sensation.

   The horrible sight made my skin crawl.

9. crawlverb

   To swim using the crawl stroke.

   I think I'll crawl the next hundred metres.

10. crawlverb

    To move over an area on hands and knees.

    The baby crawled the entire second floor.

11. crawlverb

    To visit while becoming inebriated.

    They crawled the downtown bars.

12. crawlverb

    To visit files or web sites in order to index them for searching.

    Yahoo Search has updated its Slurp Crawler to crawl web sites faster and more efficient.

13. Etymology: crawlen, from krafla (cf. Danish kravle ‘to crawl, creep’, Swedish kravla), from krablōnan (cf. Dutch krabbelen, Low German, Middle High German krappeln), frequentative of krabbōnan ‘to scratch, scrape’. More at crab.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. To CRAWLverb

   Etymology: krielen, Dutch.

   1. To creep; to move with a slow motion; to move without rising from the ground, as a worm.

   That crawling insect, who from mud began;
   Warm’d by my beams, and kindled into man! John Dryden, Auren.

   The streams but just contain’d within their bounds,
   By slow degrees into their channels crawl;
   And earth increases as the waters fall. Dryden.

   A worm finds what it searches after, only by feeling, as it crawls from one thing to another. Nehemiah Grew, Cosmol. b. ii. c. 8.

   The vile worm, that yesterday began
   To crawl; thy fellow-creature, abject man! Matthew Prior.

   2. To move weakly, and slowly.

   ’Tis our first intent
   To shake all cares and business from our age,
   While we unburthen’d crawl tow’rd death. William Shakespeare, K. Lear.

   They like tall fellows crept out of the holes; and secretly crawling up the battered walls of the fort, got into it. Richard Knolles.

   A look so pale no quartane ever gave;
   Thy dwindled legs seem crawling to a grave. John Dryden, Juvenal.

   He was hardly able to crawl about the room, far less to look after a troublesome business. John Arbuthnot, History of John Bull.

   Man is a very worm by birth,
   Vile reptile, weak and vain!
   A while he crawls upon the earth,
   Then shrinks to earth again. Jonathan Swift.

   It will be very necessary for the threadbare gownman, and every child who can crawl, to watch the fields at harvest-time. Jonathan Swift.

   3. To move about hated and despised.

   Cranmer
   Hath crawl’d into the favour of the king,
   And is his oracle. William Shakespeare, Henry VIII.

   Reflect upon that litter of absurd opinions that crawl about the world, to the disgrace of reason. Robert South, Sermons.

   How will the condemned sinner then crawl forth, and appear in his filth and shame, before that undefiled tribunal? Robert South, Sermons.

   Behold a rev’rend fire, whom want of grace
   Has made the father of a nameless race,
   Crawl through the street, shov’d on, or rudely press’d
   By his own sons, that pass him by unbless’d! Alexander Pope, Epist. i.

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Crawlverb

   to move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep

2. Crawlverb

   to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner

3. Crawlverb

   to advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct

4. Crawlverb

   to have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls. See Creep, v. i., 7

5. Crawlnoun

   the act or motion of crawling; slow motion, as of a creeping animal

6. Crawlnoun

   a pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish

7. Etymology: [Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. krla to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch.]

Freebase(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Crawl

   "Crawl" is the first single from New Zealand rock band Atlas released in 2007. It was featured on their debut album Reasons for Voyaging. It is one of the most successful New Zealand rock songs of the 21st century, staying atop the charts for seven weeks.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Crawl

   krawl, v.i. to move slowly along the ground, as a worm: to creep: to move feebly, stealthily, or sneakingly: to be covered with crawling things.—n. the act of crawling.—ns. Crawl′er, one who or that which crawls: a reptile; Crawl′ing.—adv. Crawl′y (coll.), with a creepy feeling. [Scand.; Ice. krafla, Dan. kravle; Ger. krabbeln, to creep.]

2. Crawl

   krawl, n. a pen for keeping fish: a kraal.

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. crawl

   A sort of pen, formed by a barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain fish or turtle. On the coast of Africa, a pen for slaves awaiting shipment.

Suggested Resources(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. crawl

   Song lyrics by crawl -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by crawl on the Lyrics.com website.

Matched Categories

1. • Aquatics
   • Feel
   • Motion
   • Move
   • Swarm
   • Swim

British National Corpus

1. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'crawl' in Verbs Frequency: #1016

How to pronounce crawl?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say crawl in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of crawl in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of crawl in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of crawl in a Sentence

1. Macaulay Culkin:

   The way he gets out of prison is to crawl through a tube of s ** t, you know ? It feels like to get to that kind of freedom, I'd have to crawl through a tube of s ** t, and you know what ? I've built a really nice prison for Macaulay Culkin. It's soft. It's sweet. It smells nice. You know ? It's plush.

2. Professor Auke Ijspeert:

   We're now making an amphibious robot that will have the same swimming and walking properties, but will be a bit more sturdy, here clearly there's a big interest of having a robot that can crawl, go through small spaces, can swim a bit. And if you have a collapsed building; you think there are survivors, you will not send a dog because maybe the building is too dangerous. It may be very interesting to have an amphibious robot that you remote control; see if there are survivors and decide then if it's worth sending a team or not.

3. Chase LeBlanc:

   Standing tall doesn’t mean straight up – It means you fall-tall, crawl-tall, stumble-tall... until your back-up-tall. All true entrepreneurs, leaders and managers know this.

4. Later McHenry:

   I wouldn't work at a scumbag place like this. Makes my skin crawl even being here.

5. John Bodrozic:

   If this happens, you end up spending more on utility costs because the air you’re paying to heat or cool is escaping from the loose ductwork into the attic or crawl space, not into your living space.

Popularity rank by frequency of use