See Also: crawl(1)(dictionary)
crawl(2)(dictionary)
crawl(dictionary)
pub-crawl(dictionary)
crawl 1, verb(dictionary)
crawl 2, noun(dictionary)

crawl (iou)



crawl verb. ME.
[Origin unkn.: cf. Swedish kravla, Danish kravle.]
I. verb intrans.
Move slowly, dragging the body along close to the ground etc., as a child on hands and knees, a short-limbed reptile or quadruped, a snake, worm, or other limbless creature, etc. Cf. CREEP verb 1. ME.
J. Gay Slow crawl'd the snail. R. C. Hutchinson My grandson, nearly a year old,..had hardly tried to crawl yet. M. Esslin A mythical universe peopled by lonely creatures crawling through the mud on their bellies.
Of ground etc.: be covered or swarming with crawling things; be filled with. ME.
I. Hay Country districts crawling with troops. W. Stevens The place is crawling with books.
Walk or move along with a slow or laborious motion. LME.
crawling peg Economics a system whereby the exchange rate can be frequently and marginally adjusted. kerb-crawling: see KERB noun. pub-crawl verb intrans. engage in a pub-crawl (CRAWL noun2 1b).
Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream I can no further crawl. N. Mailer Southbound traffic whose drivers were crawling by at five miles an hour. S. Brett Time crawled by.
b. Move stealthily, sneakingly, or abjectly. E17.
Shakespeare Henry VIII Cranmer..Hath crawl'd into the favour of the King.
c. Behave abjectly or ingratiatingly (to). colloq. L19.
A. Sachs I don't actually crawl to them but I am so eager to win their approval.
Of a plant: spread over a surface with extending stems or branches. Cf. CREEP verb 4. M17.
Milton A green mantling vine That crawls along the side of yon small hill.
Feel a creepy sensation. Cf. CREEP verb 5. L19.
make a person's flesh crawl: see FLESH noun.
Swim with a crawl stroke. E20.
II. verb trans.
Crawl on or over. rare. M17.
crawlingly adverb in a crawling manner L17.
crawly adjective having or suggestive of the sensation of insects etc. crawling on one's skin, creepy; (see also CREEPY-crawly): M19.