crawl
/krɔl/
Reviewed on
Also a noun
Meaning
To move forward on the hands and knees or with the body close to the ground.
The baby learned to crawl across the living room carpet yesterday.
Have you ever crawled through such a narrow tunnel before?
To move or progress at an exceptionally slow pace.
Morning traffic crawled along the highway during the heavy snowstorm.
Why is the progress bar crawling so slowly today?
To be full of or covered with people, animals, or insects.
The kitchen floor was crawling with ants.
Is the beach always crawling with tourists in July?
How it's used
This means “be full of something”
- be crawling with ants
“be crawling with them.”
The old shed was crawling with spiders.
Collocations
- crawl across
- crawl into bed
- crawl along
Synonyms
- creep
- inch
- drag
Idioms
make someone's skin crawl
make someone feel disgusted or afraid
The sound of scratching nails on chalkboards makes my skin crawl.
crawl out of the woodwork
appear suddenly, often in large numbers, usually to get something
Old acquaintances crawled out of the woodwork after he won the lottery.
Meaning
An extremely slow rate of movement or progress.
Traffic slowed to a crawl after the construction crew closed two lanes.
Production ground to a complete crawl due to ongoing supply shortages.
A fast swimming stroke performed face down with alternating overarm movements and flutter kicks.
She practiced her crawl for an hour every morning before work.
Do you prefer the breaststroke or the front crawl for endurance?
Collocations
- slow to a crawl
- front crawl