plural crawlers
1
: someone or something that crawls: such as
a
: a small organism (such as an insect or worm) that typically moves along close to or on the ground
He won $600 last year for eating a worm. … He devoured the crawler in Yakult, Japan. …—
Janine Zuniga Irvine
Janine Zuniga IrvineThat's when he [Cam Lyons] remembered hearing about dogs that are trained to sniff for bedbugs. If a dog could hunt and find those tiny crawlers, he thought, why not weevils?—Ron Charles
see also creepy crawler, night crawler
Ron Charles
b
informal + often humorous
: a young child
especially
: a young child that crawls but does not yet walk
Attention moms, dads, grandparents, uncles and aunts. Sign up your little crawler and toddler for the annual Corn Fest Diaper Derby-Toddler Trot … —The Midweek (Sycamore, Illinois)
The Midweek (Sycamore, Illinois) Knee pads for babies! … the embroidered patella buffers … are designed to keep your little crawler boo-boo free. —Jill Radsken
Jill Radsken
c
: someone who participates in crawls (see crawl entry 2 sense 1d)
Each pub crawler will receive a free hot toddy in a … mug.—Susan Sprague Yeske
Susan Sprague YeskeJust a few quick steps away on Fourth Avenue, the Dream Hotel and the Bobby Hotel have added art exhibits for art crawlers to enjoy.—Janet Kurtz
Janet Kurtz2
: a vehicle (such as a crane) that travels on endless (see endless sense 3) chain belts
… a crawler crane and other equipment were used while the tower crane was out of commission.—Chase Rogers
Chase RogersFor more than 40 years, the twin crawler-transporters at NASA's Kennedy Space Center have traveled the gravel track between the massive Vehicle Assembly Building and the two launch pads at Launch Complex 39.—Cheryl L. Mansfield
Cheryl L. Mansfield3
: software that automatically visits and indexes websites for future search engine or database queries
Publishers usually have a small amount of traffic coming from search engine crawlers …—Augustine Fou
see also web crawler
Augustine FouExamples of crawler in a Sentence
he's always the crawler who makes everyone else late
Recent Examples on the Web
Google’s index ballooned as its crawlers struggled to process this relentless deluge of pages.
—Ivan Guzenko, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
That gives him time to meet and chat with crawlers and learn about their book-reading habits.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Apr. 2025
While creepy crawlers seeping in your home can be inevitable, there are a few precautionary tips Ideal Partners gives homeowners.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2025
The oil will smother active and recently settled crawlers.
—Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crawler
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Ivan Guzenko, Forbes.com, 24 Apr. 2025
That gives him time to meet and chat with crawlers and learn about their book-reading habits.
—Pam Kragen, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 Apr. 2025
While creepy crawlers seeping in your home can be inevitable, there are a few precautionary tips Ideal Partners gives homeowners.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Feb. 2025
The oil will smother active and recently settled crawlers.
—Tim Johnson, Chicago Tribune, 6 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crawler
Cite this Entry
“Crawler.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crawler. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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