Meaning & use
crawling
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“crawling” is a form of “crawl”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbintransitive
Moving slowly along the ground on hands and knees, or with the body close to the surface.
Grammar: No object; often followed by a direction: crawling under the fence.
Patterns
- crawling across something
- crawling under something
- crawling out of something
The baby was crawling across the kitchen floor toward the dog.
Soldiers were crawling through the mud under the wire.
A spider was crawling up the bathroom wall.
verbintransitiveinformal
Moving forward very slowly, usually because of heavy traffic or a lack of progress.
Grammar: No object; often used about vehicles: traffic was crawling along.
Patterns
- crawling along
- crawling past something
Traffic was crawling along the highway after the accident.
The queue was crawling forward at a painful pace.
Sales have been crawling since the new manager arrived.
verbafter a verbinformal
Being full of or covered with many small creatures or people, in an unpleasant way.
Grammar: Used with 'with': the room was crawling with ants.
Patterns
- crawling with something
The old shed was crawling with spiders.
By noon the beach was crawling with tourists.
The camp was crawling with police after the escape.
verbintransitiveinformaldisapproving
Being overly friendly toward someone in authority, in order to win favor.
Grammar: Usually followed by to: crawling to the boss.
Patterns
- crawling to someone
He is always crawling to the director before promotions.
I hate how she keeps crawling to the teacher.
Stop crawling and just say what you really think.
Word forms
| base form | crawl |
|---|---|
| third person singular | crawls |
| past tense | crawled |
| past participle | crawled |
Common combinations
- crawling on all fours
- The toddler was crawling on all fours across the rug.
- crawling with insects
- The rotten log was crawling with insects.
- crawling along the road
- Cars were crawling along the road in the fog.
- crawling out of bed
- I was crawling out of bed when the phone rang.
- skin crawling
- Just hearing that story made my skin crawl.
Synonyms and how they differ
- creeping
- Creeping stresses quiet, careful movement, often to avoid being noticed, while crawling stresses staying low or moving slowly.
- inching
- Inching suggests very small, gradual steps forward, often used for vehicles or progress, and is less physical than crawling on hands and knees.
- teeming
- Teeming means full of moving living things and is more neutral than crawling with, which suggests disgust.
- grovelling
- Grovelling describes humble, shameful behavior toward someone, and is stronger and more pitiful than the informal crawling to someone.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: crawling or creeping?
crawling vs creeping
Creeping is quiet, secretive movement. Crawling is low and slow, often on hands and knees.
Practice
The old basement was ___ with mice, so we called a pest controller.
Choose one answer.
Crawling with is the fixed pattern meaning full of unpleasant small creatures. Creeping with does not take this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crawling”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.