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Definition of "crawl" []

  • To move slowly on the hands and knees or by dragging the body along the ground; creep. (verb-intransitive)
  • To advance slowly, feebly, laboriously, or with frequent stops: We crawled along until we reached the open road. (verb-intransitive)
  • To proceed or act servilely. (verb-intransitive)
  • To be or feel as if swarming or covered with moving things: The accident scene was crawling with police officers. My flesh crawled in horror. See Synonyms at teem1. (verb-intransitive)
  • To swim the crawl. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "crawl" in a sentence
  • "STAR WARS was the first VHS to make a million dollars in rentals when it came out in 1982—although technically, this was not the original version either, for in 1981 the subtitle “Episode IV: A New Hope” was added to the title crawl; but, barring this single, rather insignificant change, it was the same film."
  • "Q: So you got the graphics for the title crawl but not the John Williams score?"
  • "Jeffrey Perlman with the American Advertising Federation said running a crawl is an "absolutely terrible idea" and that it would be "terribly disruptive" for television viewers."