crawl
7 synonyms and 4 antonyms for crawl, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.
Verb — To move on hands and knees, or drag the body low along a surface.
Synonyms
Everyday swaps
Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.
Less common
Still standard English, but they carry more weight.
Rare, literary or technical
Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.
Antonyms
How to use crawl
The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.
Etymology
From Old Norse krafla, "to crawl or creep" — related to words in Danish and Swedish meaning the same thing.
Full origin of crawl →Frequently asked questions
What does “crawl” mean?
The word “crawl” means to move on hands and knees, or drag the body low along a surface. In plain terms, to move slowly, close to the ground, or (for traffic or a web bot) to move/progress at a crawl.
How do you pronounce “crawl”?
“Crawl” is pronounced krawl (/kɹɔːl/ in IPA).
How do you use “crawl” in a sentence?
Here is “crawl” used in a sentence: “The baby crawled across the living room floor toward her toy.”
What is another word for “crawl”?
Words with a similar meaning to “crawl” include creep, inch, plod, scuttle and wriggle.
What is the opposite of “crawl”?
The opposite of “crawl” — its antonyms — are run, walk, sprint and lope.
What part of speech is “crawl”?
Depending on how it is used, “crawl” can be a verb and a noun.
Where does the word “crawl” come from?
The word “crawl” comes from Old Norse. From Old Norse krafla, "to crawl or creep" — related to words in Danish and Swedish meaning the same thing.
Is “crawl” a common word?
“Crawl” is an uncommon word in modern English, usually learned at around the B2 level.
What is the difference between crawl and crab as verbs of movement?
Crawl describes moving on hands and knees or dragging the body low along a surface, or more generally progressing very slowly, while crab specifically describes sideways drifting movement, as with an aircraft in a crosswind. Crawl is the broader, more common term for slow or low movement in any direction.
What does it mean for a search engine to crawl the web?
When a computer program crawls the web, it automatically and systematically visits web pages, following links from one page to another, in order to collect and index their content. Search engines rely on this process, often called web crawling, to build the indexes that power search results.
What is a bar crawl?
A bar crawl is a social outing in which a group visits several bars in one night, typically having a drink at each stop before moving to the next. The term draws on the noun sense of crawl as a slow, extended journey rather than the physical movement of crawling.