CRAWL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crawl mean? 

• CRAWL (noun)
  The noun CRAWL has 3 senses:

1. a very slow movement

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

3. a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body

  Familiarity information: CRAWL used as a noun is uncommon.

• CRAWL (verb)
  The verb CRAWL has 5 senses:

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

2. feel as if crawling with insects

3. be full of

4. show submission or fear

5. swim by doing the crawl

  Familiarity information: CRAWL used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRAWL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A very slow movement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

the traffic advanced at a crawl

Hypernyms ("crawl" is a kind of...):

motion; move; movement (the act of changing location from one place to another)

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

Australian crawl; crawl; front crawl

Hypernyms ("crawl" is a kind of...):

swimming stroke (a method of moving the arms and legs to push against the water and propel the swimmer forward)

Meronyms (parts of "crawl"):

flutter kick (a swimming kick; the legs are moved rapidly up and down without bending the knees)

Derivation:

crawl (swim by doing the crawl)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

crawl; crawling; creep; creeping

Context example:

the traffic moved at a creep

Hypernyms ("crawl" is a kind of...):

locomotion; travel (self-propelled movement)

Derivation:

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

• CRAWL (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they crawl    ... he / she / it crawls   
Past simple: crawled   
Past participle: crawled   
-ing form: crawling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

crawl; creep

Context example:

The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed

Hypernyms (to "crawl" is one way to...):

go; locomote; move; travel (change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crawl"):

formicate (crawl about like ants)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The streets crawl with crowds

Derivation:

crawl (a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body)

crawl (a very slow movement)

crawler (terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet; used as bait by anglers)

crawler (a person who crawls or creeps along the ground)

crawling (a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Feel as if crawling with insects

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

My skin crawled--I was terrified

Hypernyms (to "crawl" is one way to...):

feel (be felt or perceived in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be full of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

The old cheese was crawling with maggots

Hypernyms (to "crawl" is one way to...):

pullulate; swarm; teem (be teeming, be abuzz)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 4

Meaning:

Show submission or fear

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

cower; crawl; creep; cringe; fawn; grovel

Hypernyms (to "crawl" is one way to...):

bend; flex (form a curve)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

crawler (a person who tries to please someone in order to gain a personal advantage)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Swim by doing the crawl

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

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

Hypernyms (to "crawl" is one way to...):

swim (travel through water)

Domain category:

aquatics; water sport (sports that involve bodies of water)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

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

 Context examples 

He knew that he could not crawl half a mile.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I finally crawled to my feet and ascended the companion stairs.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“It is very well to cringe and crawl now, but you thought little enough of this poor Horner in the dock for a crime of which he knew nothing.”

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

This put me in a great fear, and I crawled under cover of the nearest live-oak and squatted there, hearkening, as silent as a mouse.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

After an interval I arose, and as if by instinct, crawled into the room where the corpse of my beloved lay.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) Does the patient describe feeling things on his/her skin or otherwise appear to be feeling things crawling or touching him/her?

(NPI - Describe Feeling Things on His/Her Skin, NCI Thesaurus)

Alleyne, wretchedly ill and weak, with his head still ringing from the blow which he had received, crawled up upon deck.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

But what do you think of yourself spreading reports about me like that, and then crawling to me for help the moment you are in trouble?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Flattening of the cells and diapedesis, adhering leukocytes crawl to an intercellular junction of the endothelium and then transmigrate to or even through the intercellular matrix.

(Lymphocyte Adhesion Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Symptoms of lice may include: • Intense itching • Rash • Visible nits (lice eggs) or crawling lice

(Lice, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)