Etymology : Middle English, from Old Norse krafla
Pronunciation : krol
Function : verb
Date : 14th century
1. act of crawling (moving along the ground on all fours, creeping); swimming stroke. creep, move along the ground on all fours; grovel, be servile.
2. to mount a hors.
3. to leave quietl.
4. to have sexual intercours.
5. to assault. 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?la to crawl; cf. lg. krabbeln, d. krabbelen to scratch.].
6. to move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep. a worm finds what it searches after only by feeling, as it crawls from one thing to another.
7. hence, to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner. he was hardly abla to crawl about the room. the meanest thing that crawl'd beneath my eyes.
8. to advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct. secretly crawling up the battered walls. hath crawled into the favor of the king. absurd opinions crawl about the world.
9. to have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls. see:
creep, v. i., 7.crawl \crawl\ (kr?l), n. the act or motion of crawling; slow motion, as of a creeping animal.crawl \crawl\, n. [cf. kraal.] a pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish.crawl n.
10. a very slow movement; "the traffic advanced at a crawl".
11. a swimming stroke; arms are moved alternately overhead accompanied by a flutter kick [syn: front crawl, australian crawl ].
12. a slow creeping 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" [syn: crawling, creep, creeping] v 1: move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground; "the crocodile was crawling along the riverbed" [syn: creep] 2: feel as if crawling with insects; "my skin crawled--i was terrified" 3: be crawling with; "the old cheese was crawling with maggots".
13. show submission or fear [syn: fawn, creep, cringe, cower, grovel].
14. swim by doing the crawl; "european children learn the breast stroke; they often don't know how to crawl".
15. To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep. to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner.
16. To advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct.
17. To have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls.
18. See Creep, v. i., 7.
19. The act or motion of crawling; slow motion, as of a creeping animal.
20. A pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish. a slow creeping mode of locomotion ; "a crawl was all that the injured man could manage"; "the traffic moved at a creep" a very slow movement; "the traffic advanced at a crawl" a swimming stroke; arms are moved alternately overhead accompanied by a flutter kick move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground; "The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed" swim by doing the crawl; "European children learn the breast stroke; they often don't know how to crawl" be crawling with; "The old cheese was crawling with maggots" feel as if crawling with insects; "My skin crawled--I was terrified".
21. 1. When you crawl, you move forward on your hands and knees. Don't worry if your baby seems a little reluctant to crawl or walk I began to crawl on my hands and knees towards the door As he tried to crawl away, he was hit in the shoulder.
22. When an insect crawls somewhere, it moves there quite slowly. I watched the moth crawl up the outside of the lampshade.
23. If someone or something crawls somewhere, they move or progress slowly or with great difficulty. I crawled out of bed at nine-thirty Hairpin turns force the car to crawl at 10 miles an hour in some places. Crawl is also a noun. The traffic on the approach road slowed to a crawl.
24. emphasis If you say that a place is crawling with people or animals, you are emphasizing that it is full of them. This place is crawling with police.
25. The crawl is a kind of swimming stroke which you do lying on your front, swinging one arm over your head, and then the other arm.
26. If something makes your skin crawl or makes your flesh crawl, it makes you feel shocked or disgusted. I hated this man, his very touch made my skin crawl. see also:
kerb-crawling, pub crawl. A pen in shallow water, as for confining fish or turtles.