crawl

Meanings

Plural: crawls

Noun

• a very slow movement
  • "the traffic advanced at a crawl"
• a swimming stroke; arms are moved alternately overhead accompanied by a flutter kick
• a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body
  • "a crawl was all that the injured man could manage"
• The act of moving slowly on hands and knees, etc.
• The act of sequentially visiting a series of similar establishments (i.e., a bar crawl).
• A rapid swimming stroke with alternate overarm strokes and a fluttering kick.
• A very slow pace.
• A piece of horizontally or vertically scrolling text overlaid on the main image.
• A pen or enclosure of stakes and hurdles for holding fish.

Verb

• move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
  • "The crocodile was crawling along the riverbed"
• feel as if crawling with insects
  • "My skin crawled--I was terrified"
• be full of
  • "The old cheese was crawling with maggots"
• show submission or fear
• swim by doing the crawl
  • "European children learn the breast stroke; they often don't know how to crawl"
• To creep; to move slowly on hands and knees, or by dragging the body along the ground.
• To move forward slowly, with frequent stops.
• To act in a servile manner.
• Followed by with: see crawl with.
• To feel a swarming sensation.
• To swim using the crawl stroke.
• To move over (an area) on hands and knees.
• To move over (an area) slowly, with frequent stops.
• To visit files or web sites in order to index them for searching.

Synonyms

Australian crawl, cower, crawling, creep, creeping, cringe, fawn, front crawl, grovel, inch, kowtow, plod, scuttle, wriggle

Antonyms

lope, run, sprint, walk

Related Words

sneak, trudge