crawling

The word “crawling” means the action or motion of moving on hands and knees, or moving very slowly. In plain terms, the act of crawling, as a noun — moving slowly along the ground.

“Crawling” is pronounced KRAW-lihng (/ˈkɹɔːlɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “crawling” used in a sentence: “The crawling of the injured hiker took hours to cover just a mile.”

“Crawling” is a noun.

“Crawling” is an uncommon word in modern English.

Crawling specifically describes moving on hands and knees or moving very slowly along a surface, while creeping more broadly describes any slow, quiet, or gradual movement, often with a stealthy quality. Traffic, for instance, is usually described as crawling when it moves at a near-standstill pace.

Traffic is described as crawling because the term captures very slow, halting movement similar to the pace of crawling on hands and knees. It is a common figurative extension of the physical sense of the word.

No, while crawling commonly describes babies or animals moving on hands and knees, it is also used figuratively for anything moving very slowly, such as traffic, time, or a slow-moving process. The core meaning of slow, laborious movement carries over into these figurative uses.