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   crawl

   /krɔːl/

   verb

   • 1. move forward on the hands and knees or by dragging the body close to the ground: "they crawled from under the table" Similar creepgo on all foursmove on hands and kneesinchdrag oneself alongpull oneself alongdragtrailslitherslinksquirmwrigglewrithescrabbleworm one's wayadvance slowly/stealthilysneak
   • ▪ (of an insect or small animal) move slowly along a surface: "the tiny spider was crawling up Nicky's arm"
   • ▪ (of a vehicle) move at an unusually slow pace: "the traffic was crawling along"
   • ▪ swim using the crawl: "I turned without stopping and crawled back to the deep end"
   • ▪ (of paint or other liquid) move after application to form an uneven layer over the surface below: technical "glazes can crawl away from a crack in the piece"
   • 2. behave obsequiously or ingratiatingly in the hope of gaining someone's favour: informal "a reporter's job can involve crawling to objectionable people" Similar grovel tobe obsequious towardsingratiate oneself withbe servile towardsbe sycophantic towardskowtow topander toabase oneself todemean oneself tobow and scrape toprostrate oneself beforetoady totruckle todance attendance onfawn on/overcurry favour withcultivateseek the favour oftry to win overtry to get on the good side ofmake up toplay up toinformal:suck up tolick someone's bootscreep tobe all overfall all overrub up the right waykeep someone sweetsweet-talksoft-soapbrown-nosebutter uptwist someone's armvulgar slang:lick/kiss someone's arselick/kiss someone's assarchaic:blandish
   • 3. be covered or crowded with (insects or people), to an extent that is objectionable: "the floor was dirty and crawling with bugs" Similar be full ofoverflow withteem withabound in/withbe packed withbe crowded withbe thronged withbe jammed withbe alive withbe overrun withswarm withbe bristling withbe infested withbe thick withinformal:be lousy withbe stuffed withbe jam-packed withbe chock-a-block withbe chock-full ofbe heaving withrare:pullulate with
   • 4. (of a program) systematically visit (a number of web pages) in order to create an index of data: "its automated software robots crawl websites, grabbing copies of pages to index"

   noun

   • 1. an act of moving on one's hands and knees or dragging one's body along the ground: "they began the crawl back to their own lines"
   • ▪ a slow rate of movement, typically that of a vehicle: "he reduced his speed to a crawl"
   • 2. a swimming stroke involving alternate overarm movements and rapid kicks of the legs: "she could do the crawl and so many other strokes"

   Word Origin Middle English: of unknown origin; possibly related to Swedish kravla and Danish kravle.

   Derivatives

   • 1. crawlingly adverb

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • C

     3

   • R

     1

   • A

     1

   • W

     4

   • L

     1

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