crawling

Noun

WordNet 3.0

Noun (1)

a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body“a crawl was all that the injured man could manage”“the traffic moved at a creep”Synonyms: crawl creep creeping

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

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]