crawler

IPA/ˈkrɔːlə(r)/
KK[krˈɔlɚ]IPA/ˈkrɔːlər/

crawler — noun

  • crawlersingular
  • crawlersplural

1. a very young child who moves around on hands and knees because they cannot stand

1.nounB1
Definition

a very young child who moves around on hands and knees because they cannot stand up and walk yet

Example

Vivek and his wife put soft mats on every floor for their crawler daughter.

crawler described by age (now), protective context

The babysitter watched the little crawler near the bottom of the stairs.

crawler after 'keep an eye on' — safety context

Common collocations
  • happy crawler
  • little crawler
  • curious crawler
  • crawler stage
Synonyms
  • baby

    general term for a very young child; crawler specifies the crawling stage

  • infant

    more formal or medical term; does not imply crawling

  • toddler

    a child who has just learned to walk, not a crawler

Antonyms
  • walker

    a child who can walk, the next stage after crawler

Grammar Patterns

crawler + verb (present simple)

Usage Note

Usually describes babies between about six and twelve months old who have started moving independently but cannot yet walk.

Common Mistakes

The crawler fell asleep in her high chair.
The baby fell asleep in her high chair.
a crawler is a baby who is moving on hands and knees, not any baby.

2. any vehicle or machine that moves at an extremely slow speed, especially because

2.nounB2
Definition

any vehicle or machine that moves at an extremely slow speed, especially because it is large or performing careful work

Example

The old tractor was a slow crawler on the narrow country road behind the farm.

crawler modified by 'slow' for clarity

A snowplow is a useful crawler that clears streets at a steady, careful pace.

crawler as a type of utility vehicle

Common collocations
  • slow crawler
  • heavy crawler
  • crawler in traffic
Synonyms
  • slowpoke

    informal term for a slow person or thing, not specific to vehicles

  • snail

    metaphorical term for anything very slow, but not a standard vehicle term

Grammar Patterns

crawler + verb for movement

Usage Note

Often used for large industrial or agricultural vehicles such as tractors, snowplows, or road rollers, but can describe any vehicle stuck in slow-moving traffic.

Common Mistakes

The sports car was a fast crawler on the highway.
The sports car was a slow crawler in the rush-hour traffic.
a crawler is always slow, not fast.

3. someone who acts overly friendly or obedient toward people in powerful positions

3.nounC1
Definition

someone who acts overly friendly or obedient toward people in powerful positions, hoping to receive some personal gain from them

Example

Everyone at the office knew Jack was a crawler who always agreed with the boss.

crawler as disapproving label in workplace

The new employee acted like a crawler, bringing the manager coffee every single morning.

Common collocations
  • act like a crawler
  • call someone a crawler
  • be a crawler
Synonyms
  • sycophant

    more formal and stronger; same meaning as crawler

  • brown-noser

    very informal, stronger negative tone

  • yes-man

    someone who agrees with everything a superior says, not necessarily seeking advantage

  • flatterer

    focuses on the praising behaviour rather than the motive

Antonyms
  • rebel

    someone who openly opposes authority rather than seeking favour

Grammar Patterns

crawler + preposition + for (a benefit)

Usage Note

Used disapprovingly. Common in workplace or political contexts to describe someone who flatters superiors insincerely.

Common Mistakes

She was a real crawler, helping anyone who needed it.
She was a real crawler, flattering the manager at every meeting.
crawler implies insincere flattery for personal gain, not genuine helpfulness.

4. a piece of software that visits websites automatically and collects data from th

4.nounB2
Definition

a piece of software that visits websites automatically and collects data from them, typically used by search engines to keep their records up to date

Example

Google's crawler reads billions of web pages every day to keep search results fresh.

crawler + search engine name as typical subject

The website owner noticed the crawler from Yahoo had visited her blog five times.

crawler + verb 'visit' for web activity

Common collocations
  • web crawler
  • Google crawler
  • crawler visits a site
  • crawler indexes pages
  • search engine crawler
Synonyms
  • spider

    more informal term for the same type of program; 'web spider' is common

  • bot

    broader term for any automated program; not all bots are crawlers

  • scraper

    focuses on extracting data; not all crawlers are scrapers

Grammar Patterns

crawler + verb for automated action

Usage Note

Also called a web crawler, spider, or bot. The term is most commonly associated with search engine services like Google and Bing.

Common Mistakes

The web crawler crawled across the server room floor.
The web crawler indexed over a million pages last night.
a web crawler is software, not a physical creature.

5. a large vehicle that runs on two continuous belts fitted around sets of wheels,

5.nounC1
Definition

a large vehicle that runs on two continuous belts fitted around sets of wheels, designed for use on soft, muddy, or uneven ground

Example

The construction crew used a large crawler to lift steel beams onto the building frame.

crawler on a construction site

Ignacio drove a crawler across the muddy field where ordinary trucks would get stuck.

crawler on rough ground where ordinary vehicles fail

Common collocations
  • large crawler
  • heavy crawler
  • crawler crane
  • military crawler
Synonyms
  • tracked vehicle

    more formal or technical; equivalent meaning

  • caterpillar

    brand name often used generically for tracked vehicles, like 'Caterpillar' the company

Grammar Patterns

crawler + verb for movement on terrain

Usage Note

The continuous belts are often called caterpillar tracks. This type of vehicle is used on construction sites, farms, and in military operations where tyres would sink into the ground.

Common Mistakes

The crawler drove fast on the highway to reach the site.
The crawler travelled slowly across the muddy construction site.
tracked vehicles are designed for rough terrain at low speeds, not highways.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe very young children, but each pinpoints a different developmental stage. Baby is the broadest term, covering birth through about age two. Newborn refers specifically to the first few weeks after birth. Infant is more formal and typically covers the first year, before the child becomes mobile. Crawler sits inside that infant period but specifies a child who has learned to move on hands and knees — a focused window between about six and twelve months. Toddler begins where crawler ends: a child who has just started walking unsteadily. In everyday conversation, parents and caregivers use crawler when they want to highlight mobility without walking: 'She's not a toddler yet; she's still a crawler.'

baby ↗infant ↗toddler ↗newborn ↗

Etymology

Old NorseMiddle EnglishEnglish

Crawler comes from the verb crawl (meaning 'to move slowly on hands and knees') plus the suffix -er, which turns a verb into a noun meaning 'someone or something that performs the action'. The verb crawl itself entered English from Old Norse krafla, meaning 'to claw or scrape with the hands'. The earliest use of crawler referred to a person or animal that crawls. Over time, the word expanded by analogy to include vehicles that move slowly (like tractors on tracks) and eventually computer programs that 'crawl' across the internet collecting data.