crawl
About 2.64 uses per million words.
Meaning
- verb To move by dragging one's body along or close to a surface, like a worm or insect, or on one's hands and knees, like a human baby.
Clutching my wounded side, I crawled back to the trench.
- verb To move or progress slowly or laboriously, or with great difficulty (for example due to feebleness) or frequent stops.
The rush-hour traffic crawled around the bypass.
- verb To advance by guile and servility; to act in a servile manner, trying to please someone in order to gain favor.
Don’t come crawling to me with your useless apologies!
- verb To spread by extending tendrils, stems, or branches; to creep or trail (as a vine).
The old house was covered in vines crawling over every available surface.
- verb To swim using the crawl stroke.
I think I'll crawl instead of breaststroke.
- verb Followed by with: see crawl with.
- verb To feel a swarming sensation; to have a sensation like that produced by insects crawling over one's body.
The horrible sight made my skin crawl.
- verb To spread unevenly; to fail to be or remain evenly spread.
Similar words
creep creeping grovel cower cringe australian crawl front crawl fawn slither slide
Often followed by
into out on through up space to in under
Word family
crawl stroke crawl strokes crawled crawling crawls news crawl news crawls opening crawl opening crawls
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