crawl Definition

crawl
verb, intr crawled, crawling

1. Said of insects, worms, etc: to move along the ground slowly.

Thesaurus: creep, squirm, slither, writhe, wriggle.
2. Said of a human: to move along on hands and knees, especially as a stage before learning to walk.
3. Said eg of traffic: to progress very slowly.

Thesaurus: plod, lag, hang back, poke.
4. To be, or feel as if, covered or overrun with something, especially insects.

Example: After a drugs tip-off, the club was crawling with police
5. derog colloq
To behave in a fawning way, often to someone in a senior position.
Thesaurus: grovel, fawn, cringe.
Form: crawl to someone (often)

noun

1. A crawling motion.
2. A very slow pace.
3. swimming.
A fast stroke with an alternate overarm action together with a kicking leg action.

Derivative: crawler

Someone or something which crawls.

derog, colloq
Someone who behaves in a fawning and ingratiating way, especially to those in senior positions.

Etymology: 13c.