Crawled
/krɔːld/
Definitions
2 meaningsTo move slowly, often on your hands and knees or close to the ground.
/krɔːld/
To move slowly on hands and knees or by dragging the body.
The injured soldier crawled to safety.
💡 Simply: It's like when a baby moves on the floor using their hands and knees. Or, if something is moving super slowly, you can say it's crawling, too!
👶 For kids: To move on your hands and knees like a baby!
More Examples
The snail crawled across the leaf.
The car crawled along in the heavy traffic.
How It's Used
"The baby crawled across the floor."
"The soldiers crawled through the mud to avoid enemy fire."
"The project crawled along at a frustrating pace."
To feel a creeping sensation on your skin, often related to fear or disgust.
/krɔːld/
To feel a sensation of creeping movement on the skin, often due to fear or disgust.
A chill crawled down her spine as she entered the haunted house.
💡 Simply: Imagine that creepy feeling you get when you're scared or something gives you the shivers. That's like something 'crawling' on your skin.
👶 For kids: To get a yucky feeling like something is moving on your skin, even if nothing is there.
More Examples
Fear crawled through his veins as he faced the unknown.
The spiders made my skin crawl.
How It's Used
"A sense of dread crawled up her spine when she heard the news."
"A shiver crawled over his skin."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms
From Middle English *crawlen*, from Old English *creopan* 'to creep'. The word has evolved to signify movement on hands and knees or in a slow, laborious manner.
The word 'crawl' has been used since the Old English period, originally to describe physical movement. Its figurative use (referring to a feeling) developed over time.
Memory tip
Imagine a baby on the floor. That's crawling.
Word Origin
"to creep"