crawl
B1Neutral to Informal (depending on sense)
Definition
Meaning
To move forward slowly, especially on hands and knees or by dragging the body close to the ground.
To move or progress at a painfully slow pace; for a computer program to systematically browse websites; to behave in an excessively obsequious manner; a specific swimming stroke.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
The primary sense involves slow, ground-level movement. The swimming sense is a fixed term. Figurative use for slow progress or servile behavior is common. As a computing term, it's technical but widely understood.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No major differences in core meaning. 'Front crawl' is the formal British term for the swimming stroke often simply called 'crawl' in AmE.
Connotations
Slightly stronger negative connotation in the 'behaving obsequiously' sense in BrE (e.g., 'crawling to the boss'). The computing sense is equally technical in both.
Frequency
The swimming sense is slightly more frequent in AmE sports commentary. The 'slow traffic' sense is equally common.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
SUBJ + crawl (+ ADV/PREP PHRASE)SUBJ + crawl + to + PERSON (obsequious)PROGRAM + crawl + WEBSITEVocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “make someone's skin crawl”
- “crawl out of the woodwork”
- “crawl back into one's shell”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
"The project is just crawling along due to budget constraints." (Figurative for slow progress)
Academic
"The search engine's bot crawls the internet to index new pages." (Computing)
Everyday
"The baby has just learned to crawl." / "Traffic was crawling over the bridge."
Technical
"Configure the web crawler to respect robots.txt protocols." (Computing/IT)
Examples
By Part of Speech
noun
British English
- She won the race with a powerful front crawl.
- The drive home was a nightmare crawl.
- There's a storage tank in the crawl space under the floor.
American English
- He's been practicing his crawl for the triathlon.
- The commute turned into a two-hour crawl.
- We found old pipes in the basement crawlspace.
verb
British English
- The queue was crawling towards the ticket office.
- I'll just crawl into bed, I'm exhausted.
- That film really made my skin crawl.
American English
- Traffic crawled across the George Washington Bridge.
- Don't crawl to the manager just to get a better desk.
- Google crawls billions of web pages daily.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- Babies crawl before they walk.
- Look at the ant crawl on the table.
- The traffic was crawling because of the accident.
- I was so tired I just crawled into bed.
- The software crawls the web to update its search index.
- His sycophantic praise really made my skin crawl.
- Negotiations have crawled to a standstill over the contentious clause.
- After the scandal, various disreputable characters began to crawl out of the woodwork.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of a CRAWfish moving slowly on the riverbed. CRAWL sounds like 'scrawl' - imagine a pen scrawling very slowly across a page.
Conceptual Metaphor
SPEED IS VERTICAL MOVEMENT / SLOW IS LOW (crawling is low and slow). SERVILITY IS LOW MOVEMENT (crawling to someone).
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'красться' (to sneak/creep stealthily). 'Crawl' is about the manner of movement, not necessarily stealth. The swimming stroke 'crawl' is 'кроль', a direct borrowing.
Common Mistakes
- Using 'crawl' instead of 'climb' for vertical movement (e.g., 'crawl up a tree'). Overusing the physical sense when 'creep' or 'edge' might be more precise for slow, cautious movement.
Practice
Quiz
In which context does 'crawl' NOT imply slow movement?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
'Crawl' typically involves the body being close to or in contact with the ground (babies, insects). 'Creep' emphasizes slow, cautious, and often stealthy movement, and can be done upright ('he crept down the hall').
No. It is neutral for babies and swimming. It becomes negative in figurative uses describing obsequious behavior ('crawling to the boss') or extremely slow progress ('project crawling').
It's an idiom meaning to cause a feeling of intense disgust, revulsion, or creepiness, often from something eerie or unsettling.
Yes, commonly. Traffic or a single vehicle can 'crawl' to indicate it is moving very slowly, often in heavy congestion.