- Crawl
- Crawl Crawl (kr[add]l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Crawled}
(kr[add]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. {Crawling}.] [Dan. kravle, or
Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw.
kr[aum]la to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to
scratch.]
1. To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a
worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep.
[1913 Webster]
A worm finds what it searches after only by feeling, as it crawls from one thing to another. --Grew. [1913 Webster]
2. Hence, to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner. [1913 Webster]
He was hardly able to crawl about the room. --Arbuthnot. [1913 Webster]
The meanest thing that crawl'd beneath my eyes. --Byron. [1913 Webster]
3. To advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct. [1913 Webster]
Secretly crawling up the battered walls. --Knolles. [1913 Webster]
Hath crawled into the favor of the king. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
Absurd opinions crawl about the world. --South. [1913 Webster]
4. To have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls. See {Creep}, v. i., 7. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
