Crawl
/krɔːl/
Definitions
3 meaningsTo move slowly on your hands and knees, or by dragging your body along the ground.
/krɔːl/
To move slowly on hands and knees or by dragging the body along the ground.
The toddler started to crawl across the living room.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're a tiny baby trying to get to your favorite toy! You have to use your hands and knees to move slowly across the floor. That's crawling! Think about it like being a little explorer.
👶 For kids: To move on your hands and knees like a baby.
More Examples
The injured soldier had to crawl to safety.
The baby crawled to reach his toy.
How It's Used
"The baby learned to crawl at six months."
"The swimmer uses the front crawl stroke."
"Soldiers crawled through the mud during training."
To proceed or advance slowly, often with difficulty or effort.
/krɔːl/
To move slowly, often implying difficulty or effort.
The line at the amusement park crawled along.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're stuck in slow traffic. Your car is barely moving forward. That's kind of like 'crawling'. It means things are moving very slowly and it takes a long time to get anywhere.
👶 For kids: To move very, very slowly.
More Examples
The internet connection was crawling after the storm.
The meeting dragged on and the time crawled by.
How It's Used
"Traffic was crawling during rush hour."
"The deadline seemed to crawl closer."
A slow movement made on hands and knees or by dragging the body.
/krɔːl/
A slow movement on hands and knees or by dragging the body.
The baby's first crawl was an exciting moment.
💡 Simply: When you are using your hands and knees to go somewhere, that's a 'crawl'! Like a baby crawling on the floor. Also, it can mean a swimming style where you move your arms and legs in a certain way.
👶 For kids: Moving on your hands and knees.
More Examples
The crawl is a swimming stroke.
We had to make a difficult crawl through the tunnel.
How It's Used
"The baby took her first crawl across the floor."
"The freestyle stroke is also known as the crawl."
Idioms & expressions
crawl out of the woodwork
To appear or emerge, often unexpectedly or after a long period.
"After the scandal, all the former partners crawled out of the woodwork."
From Old English *crūlan* ('to move slowly'), related to Dutch *kruipen* and German *kriechen*.
The word 'crawl' has been used in English for centuries, initially referring to slow movement and later expanding to describe the movement of infants and other animals.
Memory tip
Imagine a baby trying to reach a toy – that's crawling!