crawled

verb

past tense of crawl
1
as in crept
to move slowly with the body close to the ground the time we had to crawl through a narrow passageway from one cave to another

Synonyms & Similar Words

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2
as in dragged
to move slowly the weekend traffic on the road to the beach just crawled

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in lingered
to move or act slowly the deadline is fast approaching, so this is no time to crawl

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in buzzed
to be copiously supplied something must be up, as city hall is crawling with reporters

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of crawled Giamanco crawled in through a shot-out window, reached the special education classroom and reracked his firearm in preparation for a deadly confrontation. — David K. Li, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026 In May 2025, after Williams shut off the water in a cell, 10 inmates removed a toilet, crawled through a gap in the wall and scaled a fence out of the jail. — ABC News, 15 Oct. 2026 In real-world tests, the hand crawled across 14 different surfaces including smooth floors, metal grates, grass, and gravel. — Edd Gent, IEEE Spectrum, 8 Oct. 2026 OpenAI’s agents also crawled millions of pages and made thousands of data queries, which may have led to the partial outage of the Wikidata Query Service (WDQS) in May, the post adds. — Jibin Joseph, PC Magazine, 6 Oct. 2026 The Rams led the Broncos 16-0 at halftime until some of the ghosts that haunted them against the Eagles last season crawled out from under the bed. — Nate Atkins, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026 In a historic first, two olive ridley sea turtles crawled out of the sea within the second week of September and laid their eggs in pits of sand in Seal Beach and Huntington Beach. — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2026 The technology isn’t perfect, Walsh said; if Gus had crawled beneath a bush to sleep, the camera wouldn’t necessarily find him. — Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2026 Every window of every building the bus crawled past opened a severe yearning in me, as though my life here had become abstract or theoretical. — Hisham Matar, New Yorker, 6 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crawled
  1. crept
  2. dragged
  3. lingered
  4. buzzed
  5. slid
  6. shuffled
  7. delayed
  8. burst
Verb
  • By spring, with the opportunity fading for a mass relocation of homes and businesses, optimism crept back into public discourse.
    — Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Europe has crept back on the scene in a real negative way, this time with France on the hot seat.
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of crept
Verb
  • Malkin controlled Lapierre’s dump-in attempt near the blue line, toe-dragged past Panther defenseman Gustav Forsling in the slot and beat Black with a wrist shot.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In my opinion, the president and his incompetent, corrupt acolytes have debased the office and dragged the good name of America through the mud.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of dragged
Verb
  • Moton lingered on the turf for a while, punching the turf in pain and dread, before a cart came out to transport him to the locker room.
    — Alex Zietlow, Charlotte Observer, 25 Oct. 2026
  • But the nearly three dozen residents who still live there say the town is still filled with those who lingered after their deaths.
    — Joy Benedict, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of lingered
Verb
  • By morning, firefighting aircraft were back in the air dropping water on the Bryson fire in Malibu while the sound of generators purchased by outage-weary residents and business owners buzzed through the canyons.
    — Hannah Fry, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026
  • The doorbell rang constantly as patient after patient walked up to the white window and the volunteer receptionist buzzed them in for their appointments.
    — Tamar Hallerman, AJC.com, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of buzzed
Verb
  • Deckers Outdoor – Shares of the footwear maker slid about 8% after its revenue for the fiscal second quarter missed analyst expectations.
    — Darla Mercado, CFP®, CNBC, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Stocks slid sharply on Thursday amid mounting concerns over whether massive investments in artificial intelligence will pay off and high oil prices.
    — Mary Cunningham, CBS News, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of slid
Verb
  • Because Luke’s Diner was essentially a wooden frame without insulation—and the cast and crew constantly shuffled in and out the door—the December and January shoots on the backlot could be brutal.
    — Mara Reinstein, Architectural Digest, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Offensive line shuffled up Dykes said in earlier in the week that TCU looked at everything throughout the program during the 2-3 start and would make the necessary adjustments to try and turn things around.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of shuffled
Verb
  • But technical and regulatory hurdles repeatedly delayed certification of the largest version of Boeing's bestselling 737 family.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Results were delayed after late openings forced more than 100 polling stations to extend voting hours Monday.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of delayed
Verb
  • When that bubble burst in the Panic of 1893, a third of railroads went bust, more than 500 banks failed, and the economy plunged into a four-year depression.
    — Ming Lu, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • When a bank of televisions showed horses bursting through the starting gate, feet stomped on the club’s carpet.
    — Abe Streep, ProPublica, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of burst

Browse Nearby Words

crawl
crawled
crawler
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Cite this Entry

“Crawled.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crawled. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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