crawling
crawling — verb
- crawlingpresent simple I / you / we / they
- crawlings3rd person singular
- crawlinging-ing form
- crawlingedpast simple
1. moving forward on your hands and knees, with your body held low and close to the
moving forward on your hands and knees, with your body held low and close to the ground
The baby crawled across the living-room rug to reach her toy.
crawl + across: moving over a surface on hands and knees
Walid crawled under the desk to find the pen he had dropped.
Soldiers crawled on their stomachs through the wet grass toward the fence.
A large black spider crawled slowly up the bedroom wall above Hoa's pillow.
Tomás got down on all fours and crawled into the small tent.
文法句型
crawl + adverb/preposition phrase (across, under, through, into)
用法筆記
The most basic, concrete meaning of crawl. Distinguish from verb/2, which describes slow movement of vehicles, queues, or the passage of time rather than a person or animal moving on the ground.
常見錯誤
2. moving ahead at an extremely slow speed, as if every bit of progress requires gr
moving ahead at an extremely slow speed, as if every bit of progress requires great effort
The heavy truck crawled up the steep hill with its load of bricks.
traffic crawled: describing a slow-moving vehicle
Traffic crawled through the city centre during the Friday rush hour.
The afternoon hours crawled by while Tendai waited for the test results.
The line at the post office crawled forward, one person at a time.
Iker's old laptop crawled when he tried to open more than two programs.
文法句型
traffic/time + crawls + adverb
crawl + along/by/forward
用法筆記
Often used with traffic, queues, or the passage of time as the subject. Unlike verb/1, the subject is rarely a person moving on the ground — it is typically a vehicle, a line of people, or an abstract idea like time.
常見錯誤
3. acting with too much eagerness to please someone powerful, hoping to gain an adv
acting with too much eagerness to please someone powerful, hoping to gain an advantage for yourself
Beatrix refused to crawl to the manager just to get a better schedule.
crawl to + [person]: pattern for seeking favour from someone in power
Some employees crawl to the boss with compliments, hoping for a promotion.
Eri noticed her classmate crawling to the teacher, offering to clean the board every day.
Vivek had no respect for people who crawled to senior staff at every chance.
Mert told his intern not to crawl to clients with fake praise.
- defy
openly refuses to obey or show respect
文法句型
crawl to + [person in authority]
用法筆記
Always negative and disapproving. The typical pattern is 'crawl to + [person with power].' Distinguish from verb/1 and verb/2, which are neutral descriptions of movement.
常見錯誤
4. being so full of moving creatures or things that the whole surface seems alive w
being so full of moving creatures or things that the whole surface seems alive with them
The old kitchen was crawling with ants after someone left jam on the counter.
was crawling with: pattern for being full of moving things
By noon the beach was crawling with families and their colourful towels.
The abandoned house crawled with rats and other unseen creatures at night.
Mira's report came back crawling with errors that took hours to fix.
After the concert, the park crawled with people looking for a way home.
文法句型
[place] is crawling with + [plural noun]
用法筆記
Nearly always appears in the progressive form 'be crawling with.' The subject is a place or surface, never a person. The things doing the 'crawling' (insects, people, errors) follow the preposition 'with.'
常見錯誤
crawling — noun
1. the action of moving on all fours, especially the way a baby or small creature t
the action of moving on all fours, especially the way a baby or small creature travels before it can walk
The baby's crawling got faster once she discovered the cat's food bowl.
possessive + crawling: describing a baby's way of moving
Trang watched her nephew's crawling with delight as he crossed the room.
Sivan's crawling through the narrow cave entrance took nearly ten minutes.
The soldier's crawling across the open field saved him from being seen.
A slow crawling is the first stage before most babies learn to walk.
用法筆記
Refers to the act itself. Distinguish from noun/2, which describes painfully slow forward progress of projects, investigations, or queues rather than physical crawling.
常見錯誤
2. forward movement that is painfully slow, making you feel as if you are getting n
forward movement that is painfully slow, making you feel as if you are getting nowhere
The project's crawling toward the deadline worried everyone on the team.
crawling toward [deadline]: describing painfully slow progress
What should have been a quick trip turned into a crawling through heavy fog.
The crawling of the investigation left families waiting months for answers.
Nikhil complained about the crawling of the checkout queue at the supermarket.
Ignacio could not bear the crawling of the security line before his flight.
用法筆記
Typically used with 'the' and followed by 'of' plus the thing progressing slowly. Carries a sense of frustration. Distinguish from noun/1, which is neutral and describes a physical action.
常見錯誤
3. a social outing in which a group moves from one bar or pub to the next, having d
a social outing in which a group moves from one bar or pub to the next, having drinks at each stop
Tyler organised a pub crawl through the old town for his birthday.
pub crawl: social activity of visiting multiple pubs
The students went pub crawling on the last night of welcome week.
Beatrix joined the charity pub crawl that raised money for the local hospital.
Going pub crawling through Dublin's Temple Bar is on every tourist's list.
Noa mapped out a pub crawl that covered eight bars in one night.
用法筆記
This sense appears as either the noun phrase 'pub crawl' (used with articles: a pub crawl, the pub crawl) or the gerund 'pub crawling' (used without an article: go pub crawling, went pub crawling). The word 'crawling' on its own does not carry this meaning; the modifier is essential.
常見錯誤
4. a way of swimming face down, pulling each arm forward over your head one at a ti
a way of swimming face down, pulling each arm forward over your head one at a time while kicking your legs rapidly up and down
Iker's crawl improved after he practised the flutter kick every morning.
crawl: the front crawl swimming stroke
The coach told Tendai that his crawl was the fastest on the team.
Mira switched from breaststroke to the crawl for the final lap.
Learning the crawl takes patience because the breathing pattern is tricky.
Trang won the 100-metre crawl at the regional swimming competition.
- front crawl
full name of the stroke, used especially in teaching
- freestyle
the competitive-racing name for this stroke
用法筆記
Also known as 'front crawl' or, in competitive contexts, 'freestyle.' In everyday speech, people often just say 'the crawl.' Distinguish from noun/1 — this is exclusively a swimming term.