crawl

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
crawl/krɔːl/

▶verb

• 1 move forward on the hands and knees or by dragging the body close to the ground.

  ■ (of an insect or small animal) move slowly along a surface.

  ■ move at an unusually slow pace.

• 2 informal behave obsequiously or ingratiatingly.

• 3 (be crawling with) be unpleasantly covered or crowded with: the place was crawling with soldiers.

▶noun

• 1 an act of crawling.

  ■ a slow rate of movement.

• 2 a swimming stroke involving alternate overarm movements and rapid kicks of the legs.

– phrases
make one's skin crawl cause one to feel an unpleasant sensation resembling something moving over the skin.

– derivatives
crawling adjective,
crawlingly adverb,
crawly adjective.

– origin ME: possibly rel. to Swed. kravla and Dan. kravle.