C1verb2K

Crawl

UK /["/krɔːl/","/krɔːlz/","/krɔːld/","/ˈkrɔːlɪŋ/"]/US /["/krɔːl/","/krɔːlz/","/krɔːld/","/ˈkrɔːlɪŋ/"]/

Definition

to move forward on your hands and knees or with your body close to the ground

In simple words: To move on hands and knees.

Examples

  • The baby began to crawl across the living room floor.
  • After the accident, he had to crawl to safety because he couldn’t stand.
  • The spider decided to crawl up the wall silently.
  • The protesters moved slowly, forced to crawl through the narrow passage.
  • Web developers need to ensure their site can be crawled easily by search engines.
  • The search engine spider will crawl every page of the website to index its content.
  • During the traffic jam, cars would crawl forward at just a few miles per hour.
  • Because of the icy roads, the vehicles had to crawl carefully to avoid accidents.

Usage notes

Used when describing movement, especially by babies or when simulating an insect's movement. Not typically used in formal writing. Can be fun and playful.

Grammar pattern

crawl + object

Memory hint

Think of a baby crawling on the floor, exploring its world on all fours.

Collocations

  • quickly
  • slowly
  • about
  • manage to
  • start to
  • across
  • along
  • into
  • crawl on (your) hands and knees
  • quickly
  • slowly
  • about
  • manage to
  • start to
  • across
  • along
  • into
  • crawl on (your) hands and knees

Synonyms

  • creep
  • scramble
  • slink
  • grovel
  • slither

Antonyms

  • run
  • walk

Common mistakes

  • Confused with 'creep' - 'crawl' generally implies a movement on hands and knees.
  • Using 'crawl' intransitively when it should have an object - e.g., saying 'I crawl' instead of 'I crawl the floor.'
  • Overusing in professional contexts where a more formal term would be appropriate.