crawl
/kɹɔːl/verb, noun
crawl is spelled C-R-A-W-L: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, crawl means “To move by dragging one's body along or close to a surface, like a worm or insect, or on one's hands and knees, like a human baby” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in crawl?
| Letters | 5: C-R-A-W-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 5.9 times per million words; the 10,028th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is crawl?
Crawl appears 5.9 times per million words in written English, the 10,028th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crawl?
- UK /kɹɔːl/
- British /kɹoːl/
- /kɹaːl/
Crawl has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-crawl.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with crawl?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as crawl from its last stressed vowel (/ɔl/, British pronunciation):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of crawl
- crawls present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- crawling participle, present
- crawled participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crawl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To move by dragging one's body along or close to a surface, like a worm or insect, or on one's hands and knees, like a human baby.
Clutching my wounded side, I crawled back to the trench.
- 2
To move or progress slowly or laboriously, or with great difficulty (for example due to feebleness) or frequent stops.
The rush-hour traffic crawled around the bypass.
- 3
To advance by guile and servility; to act in a servile manner, trying to please someone in order to gain favor.
Don’t come crawling to me with your useless apologies!
- 4
To spread by extending tendrils, stems, or branches; to creep or trail (as a vine).
The old house was covered in vines crawling over every available surface.
- 5
To swim using the crawl stroke.
I think I'll crawl instead of breaststroke.
- 6
Followed by with: see crawl with.
- 7
To feel a swarming sensation; to have a sensation like that produced by insects crawling over one's body.
The horrible sight made my skin crawl.
- 8
To spread unevenly; to fail to be or remain evenly spread.
noun
- 1
The act of moving slowly on hands and knees, etc.
- 2
The act of sequentially visiting a series of similar establishments (i.e., a bar crawl).
- 3
A rapid swimming stroke with alternate overarm strokes and a fluttering kick.
- 4
A very slow pace.
My computer has slowed down to a crawl since I installed that software package.
- 5
A piece of horizontally or vertically scrolling text overlaid on the main image.
22 March 2012, Scott Tobias, AV Club The Hunger Gameshttp://www.avclub.com/articles/the-hunger-games,71293/ The opening crawl (and a stirring propaganda movie) informs us that “The Hunger Games” are an annual event in Panem, a North America
- 6
A pen or enclosure of stakes and hurdles for holding fish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crawl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ramper , avancer au pas , s'aplatir devant, s'aplatir , grouiller de, grouiller |
| German | kriechen, krabbeln , wimmeln , kraulen , Kraul , Schneckentempo |
| Portuguese | engatinhar, rastejar, arrastar-se, reptar , lesmar , crol |
| Spanish | arrastrarse, reptar, rampar, gatear , ir a paso de tortuga , humillarse |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crawl come from?
From Middle English crawlen, crewlen, creulen, crallen, *cravelen, from Old Norse krafla (compare Danish kravle (“to crawl, creep”), Swedish kravla, kräla (“to creep, crawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *krablōną (compare Saterland Frisian krabbelje, Dutch krabbelen, German Low German krabbeln, German krabbeln), frequentative of *krabbōną (“to scratch, scrape”). Compare also Saterland Frisian krauelje (“to crawl, scuttle”), West Frisian kreauwelje (“to crawl”), Dutch krevelen, krieuwelen (“to crawl”), German Low German kribbeln, German kribbeln (“to creep, crawl, tingle”). See also crab, crabble.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).