krabbeln

[ˈkʁabl̩n]

/[ˈkʁabl̩n]/ verb

The verdict

“krabbeln” has 11 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #41,293. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,293
frequency rank, German
4,158
“K” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - (beim Menschen) auf Händen und Knien fortbewegen

Corpus desk

Index DE-krabbeln · krabbeln · German

krabbeln · rank #41,293 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,293
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,158
  • PHOTO-FINISH KPdSU

Nearest frequency peer: KPdSU (-1 rank slots)

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „krabbeln“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „krabbeln“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

krabbeln vs Krabben
75% similar
krabbeln vs kribbeln
88% similar
krabbeln vs kabeln
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for krabbeln
PropertyValue
Headwordkrabbeln
LanguageGerman
Part of speechVerb
IPA[ˈkʁabl̩n]
Letters8
Frequency rank#41,293
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „krabbeln“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).krabbelnliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „KPdSU“ (#41,292), „Krefelder“ (#41,294), „kostengünstige“ (#41,291). Unter 4,158 „K“-Lemmata liegt „krabbeln“ bei #41,293. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around krabbeln (IPA [ˈkʁabl̩n]), averb. Corpus frequency is #41,293 among 4,158 “K” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for krabbeln, with forms such as "karbbeln", "kkrabbeln", and "krabbelln". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "Krabben", "kribbeln", "kabeln", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct German form is krabbeln, spelled K-R-A-B-B-E-L-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    (beim Menschen) auf Händen und Knien fortbewegen
  2. 2
    (Tiere) fortbewegen mit vielen Beinen, die schnell hintereinander auftreten
  3. 3
    jemanden krabbeln: jemanden kitzeln

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how krabbeln appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Kleine Kinder lernen erst zu krabbeln, bevor sie gehen können.
  2. Im Wohnzimmer war eine riesige Spinne, aber als ich das Licht angemacht hab', ist sie unter den Schrank gekrabbelt.

Synonyms

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • karbbeln
  • kkrabbeln
  • krabbelln
  • krabbelnn
  • krabbenl
  • krabblen
  • krabebln
  • krabeln
  • krbabeln
  • krrabbeln
  • rkabbeln

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of krabbeln - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

karbbeln2kkrabbeln1krabbelln1krabbelnn1krabbenl2krabblen2krabebln2krabeln1
Edit distance from "krabbeln"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "krabbeln"?
"krabbeln" is spelled K-R-A-B-B-E-L-N. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈkʁabl̩n].
What does "krabbeln" mean?
As a verb, "krabbeln" means: (beim Menschen) auf Händen und Knien fortbewegen
What words are commonly confused with "krabbeln"?
"krabbeln" is commonly confused with "Krabben", "kribbeln", "kabeln". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "krabbeln"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "krabbeln" is [ˈkʁabl̩n]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "krabbeln" come from?
"krabbeln" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar German words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "krabbeln", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list