crawl

crawl across something and crawl along something

[for someone] to move across something on hands and knees; [for an insect or something similar] to walk across something. The wounded officer had to crawl across the open area to get to safety. The caterpillar crawled across the leaf and stopped at the end. She crawled along the catwalk, fearing to look down.

See also: across

crawl back to someone

Fig. to go back to someone humbly, perhaps asking for forgiveness. I knew you would come crawling back to me! I wouldn't crawl back to him for all the tea in China.

See also: back

crawl in (to something)

1. Lit. to enter a place crawling or creeping. The cat crawled into the room and meowed. The baby crawled in and tried to stand up.

2. Fig. to dress quickly in some kind of clothing. I crawled into my pants and threw on a shirt. He finally found his pants and crawled in.

3. Fig. to get into bed. At about ten o'clock, she crawled into bed. She pulled back the covers and crawled in.

crawl out

to get out by crawling. The bears finally woke up and crawled out. In the cave, I injured my leg and I had to crawl out.

See also: out

crawl out (of something)

to get out of something by crawling. The injured man crawled out of the overturned car. Donna crawled out of the cave.

See also: out

Crawl over something

to cross over something by crawling. We crawled over the pile of boxes. Timmy crawled over the carpet and stood up at the coffee table.

crawling with someone

Fig. [of a surface] covered with many people or members of a class of people moving about. The place was crawling with police and FBI agents. The city was crawling with tourists making it almost impossible to go from place to place.

crawling with some kind of creature

[of a surface] covered with insects or animals, moving about. The basement was crawling with rats! We came home and found the kitchen floor crawling with ants.

See also: creature, kind, some

make someone's flesh crawl and make someone's skin crawl

to cause someone's skin to feel funny or get goose pimples through fright. Just to hear the story of the killings made my flesh crawl. The horror movie made our skin crawl.

See also: flesh, make

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a pub crawl  (British & Australian informal)

an occasion on which you go to several different pubs (= type of bar found in Britain) in order to drink alcohol I thought we might go on a pub crawl tonight.

come/crawl out of the woodwork

to appear after being hidden or not active for a long time, especially in order to do something unpleasant After you've been in a relationship for a long while, all sorts of little secrets start to come out of the woodwork. Racists and extreme nationalists are crawling out of the woodwork to protest at the sudden increase in the number of immigrants.

See also: come, out, woodwork

make somebody's flesh crawl/creep

if someone or something makes your flesh creep, you think they are extremely unpleasant or frightening (often in present tenses) Spiders and insects really make my flesh crawl. I hate that guy in accounts, he makes my flesh creep.

See also: flesh, make

make somebody's skin crawl

if something or someone makes your skin crawl, you think they are very unpleasant or frightening Just thinking about the way he had touched her made her skin crawl.

See also: make, skin

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come out of the woodwork also crawl out of the woodwork

to appear suddenly and unexpectedly If you try to lose weight, people will come out of the woodwork to offer advice.

Usage notes: usually said about someone who was not invited or wanted

Etymology: based on the idea of insects that suddenly come out from under boards in a house where they have been hidden

See also: come, out, woodwork

crawling with something

full of something Because the Internet is crawling with sports fans, the league thinks it can build an international audience online.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of crawl with something (to be covered by insects or other small creatures)

make your skin crawl

to be very frightening or disgusting Just thinking about the weird way he talked made her skin crawl.

See also: make, skin