crawl
crawl Lexical Profile
crawl Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To move forward on the hands and knees or by dragging the body close to the ground.
"The curious toddler began to crawl across the living room rug toward his favorite toy."
To progress or advance at a very slow, laborious pace.
"The commuter train had to crawl through the dense morning fog for safety reasons."
To be covered or crowded with moving things or people.
"By midday, the summer festival grounds were crawling with tourists and street performers."
To systematically browse and index content across the internet using an automated software program.
"Search engines continuously crawl millions of web pages to keep their search results current."
To behave in an overly submissive, obsequious, or servile manner in order to gain favor.
"He refused to crawl to the board of directors just to secure a promotion."
• noun
An act of moving on one's hands and knees or with the body close to the ground, or a very slow pace of movement.
"Heavy rush-hour traffic reduced our commute on the highway to a frustrating crawl."
A fast swimming stroke in which the swimmer lies face down and uses alternating overarm strokes combined with a flutter kick.
"She won the championship race by using a powerful front crawl across the length of the pool."
A leisurely tour or progression from one establishment, such as a pub, bar, or restaurant, to another in a single outing.
"The neighborhood association organized a local restaurant crawl to showcase new culinary businesses."
• Rhymes for crawl
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in Middle English as craulen, the word was likely borrowed from Old Norse krafla, meaning 'to claw' or 'to paw one's way,' from a Germanic base shared with 'crab' and 'claw.'
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.