a swimming stroke; arms are moved alternately overhead accompanied by a flutter kick
"After tiring of freestyle, she decided to switch to crawling across the pool."
The act of moving slowly on hands and knees, etc.
"The fishermen repaired their old crawl before casting out their nets to catch the salmon."
A pen or enclosure of stakes and hurdles for holding fish.
In plain English: A crawl is an old-fashioned word for a small boat that has no motor and moves slowly through water by being pulled or pushed with poles.
"The baby spent its first few months mostly crawling across the floor."
Usage: As a noun, "crawl" refers either to the slow movement performed on hands and knees or specifically to an old-fashioned fence made of stakes used to hold fish in place. Use this term for physical locomotion styles rather than confusing it with synonyms like "creep," which often implies moving stealthily without specifying body position.
swim by doing the crawl
"European children learn the breast stroke; they often don't know how to crawl"
To creep; to move slowly on hands and knees, or by dragging the body along the ground.
"The baby began to crawl across the living room floor toward the toys."
In plain English: To crawl means to move on your hands and knees because you are too small, tired, or injured to walk properly.
"The baby learned to crawl across the living room floor before she could walk."
The word crawl comes from Middle English and Old Norse roots meaning to creep or move on hands and knees. It originally derived from a Proto-Germanic term for scratching, which evolved into the modern sense of dragging oneself along the ground.