1crawl 
/ˈkrɑ:l̟/ verb
crawls; crawled; crawl·ing /ˈkrɑ:l̟/ verb 1 [no obj] a : to move on your hands and knees
▪ Does the baby crawl yet? ▪ We got down on our knees and crawled through a small opening. ▪ The baby crawled across the floor toward her mother.
b : to move with the body close to or on the ground
▪ The soldiers crawled forward on their bellies. ▪ The snake crawled into its hole. ▪ There's a spider crawling [=moving forward on its legs] up the wall. 2 a [no obj] : to move slowly
▪ They're doing construction on the road, so traffic is crawling. ▪ I worked late into the night, and it was 2 a.m. before I finally crawled into bed. ▪ The bus crawled along the rough and narrow road. ▪ The days slowly crawled by. ▪ Traffic has crawled to a stop/standstill. [=has come to a complete stop after moving very slowly] ▪ Work on the project has crawled to a standstill.
b [+ obj] : to move slowly on, across, or through (something)
▪ We all got into the old truck and crawled the streets of the city looking for him. 3 [no obj] : to be full of many people, insects, animals, etc. — usually used in the phrase be crawling with ▪ The courthouse is crawling [=teeming] with reporters today. ▪ The table was crawling with ants. 4 [no obj] Brit, informal + disapproving : to be extremely nice to someone in order to get approval or some advantage for yourself
▪ He's been crawling [=creeping] to the boss for months, so it's no surprise he got a promotion.
▪ Does the baby crawl yet? ▪ We got down on our knees and crawled through a small opening. ▪ The baby crawled across the floor toward her mother.
b : to move with the body close to or on the ground
▪ The soldiers crawled forward on their bellies. ▪ The snake crawled into its hole. ▪ There's a spider crawling [=moving forward on its legs] up the wall.
▪ They're doing construction on the road, so traffic is crawling. ▪ I worked late into the night, and it was 2 a.m. before I finally crawled into bed. ▪ The bus crawled along the rough and narrow road. ▪ The days slowly crawled by. ▪ Traffic has crawled to a stop/standstill. [=has come to a complete stop after moving very slowly] ▪ Work on the project has crawled to a standstill.
b [+ obj] : to move slowly on, across, or through (something)
▪ We all got into the old truck and crawled the streets of the city looking for him.
▪ He's been crawling [=creeping] to the boss for months, so it's no surprise he got a promotion.
come/go crawling to
informal ◊If you come/go crawling (back) to someone, you go to someone for help or approval in a way that shows you are weak or sorry for what you have done.
▪ Don't come crawling to me for help later if you aren't going to listen to me now. ▪ He's gone crawling back to his old girlfriend.
▪ Don't come crawling to me for help later if you aren't going to listen to me now. ▪ He's gone crawling back to his old girlfriend.
crawl out of the woodwork — see woodwork
make your skin/flesh crawl
◊If something makes your skin/flesh crawl, it causes you to have an uncomfortable feeling of fear or disgust.
▪ Just thinking about being down in that dark cave makes my skin crawl.
▪ Just thinking about being down in that dark cave makes my skin crawl.
— crawl·er /ˈkrɑ:lɚ/ noun, plural crawl·ers [count]
▪ Both babies are crawlers now. — see also night crawler
/ˈkrɑ:lɚ/ noun, plural crawl·ers [count] ▪ Both babies are crawlers now. — see also night crawler
