as in leisurely
moving or proceeding at less than the normal, desirable, or required speed
the crawling pace of the narrative is really frustrating
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in creeping
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
2
as in dragging
to move slowly
the weekend traffic on the road to the beach just crawled
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in poking
to move or act slowly
the deadline is fast approaching, so this is no time to crawl
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of crawling
Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 16 Sep. 2025
But the line is wildly popular—the launch of a collaboration with the street artist KAWS sparked a frenzy in China in 2019, with shoppers crawling under shutters, removing clothes from mannequins, and putting one another in headlocks to get the shirts before they were gone.
—Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
And to get there, visitors will have to make their way through scare zones brimming with crawling monsters and roaring chainsaws.
—Charlotte Observer, 11 Sep. 2025
The pair is seen crawling through a wildflower field, dancing, and jumping, but also hollering at each other, brandishing knives, and at some point, Lawrence licks a window with zeal.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
The franchise is absolutely crawling with demons — and therefore crawling with opportunities to make a buck.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
According to a LinkedIn post from e-commerce Juozas Kaziukenas, the online shopping giant is working to block Big Tech players’ respective LLMs from crawling and ingesting its product data to display to consumers.
—Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2025
The centipede the Redditor found crawling in her bed.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
The crawling issue has also caused friction between Cloudflare and Perplexity.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
Verb
Fans catapulted themselves through the air, crawling onto the stage.
—Audrey Gibbs, Nashville Tennessean, 16 Sep. 2025
But the line is wildly popular—the launch of a collaboration with the street artist KAWS sparked a frenzy in China in 2019, with shoppers crawling under shutters, removing clothes from mannequins, and putting one another in headlocks to get the shirts before they were gone.
—Lauren Collins, New Yorker, 15 Sep. 2025
And to get there, visitors will have to make their way through scare zones brimming with crawling monsters and roaring chainsaws.
—Charlotte Observer, 11 Sep. 2025
The pair is seen crawling through a wildflower field, dancing, and jumping, but also hollering at each other, brandishing knives, and at some point, Lawrence licks a window with zeal.
—Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 5 Sep. 2025
The franchise is absolutely crawling with demons — and therefore crawling with opportunities to make a buck.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 5 Sep. 2025
According to a LinkedIn post from e-commerce Juozas Kaziukenas, the online shopping giant is working to block Big Tech players’ respective LLMs from crawling and ingesting its product data to display to consumers.
—Meghan Hall, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2025
The centipede the Redditor found crawling in her bed.
—Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Aug. 2025
The crawling issue has also caused friction between Cloudflare and Perplexity.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 26 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crawling
Adjective
-
The leisurely trips meander along the Snake River, near Grand Teton National Park, for several hours.—
Stephanie Vermillion,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Sep. 2025
-
Once a working farm in the time of the gold rush, since 1962 the Greenhorn has been a place where the day is taken at a leisurely pace, where visitors soak in the 600 acres that abuts to 500,000 more acres of public land.—
Jenny Peters,
Oc Register,
9 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Coachella hasn’t sold out since 2023, despite its release dates creeping earlier in the calendar each year.—
Arielle Gordon,
Pitchfork,
16 Sep. 2025
-
Moms pushed babies in strollers on a road divided by a median of blowing sand and creeping ice plant succulents, still striped with dotted white lines marking what used to be driving lanes.—
Janie Har,
Fortune,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Moncur struggled for seven minutes, dragging Blaze — who was locked on her arm — to the front of the facility in search of help.—
Tony Saavedra,
Oc Register,
16 Sep. 2025
-
The trends have contributed to a slump in consumer confidence, dragging on spending and threatening leaders’ official growth target for this year of around 5%.—
Nino Paoli,
Fortune,
15 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In 2009, Tropicana replaced its familiar logo, an orange with a straw poking out, with a minimalist design featuring a glass of orange juice.—
Nathaniel Meyersohn,
CNN Money,
13 Sep. 2025
-
Routh allegedly came within a few hundred yards of Trump before a Secret Service agent spotted his rifle poking out of a tree line.—
Nadine El-Bawab,
ABC News,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Finish the look with a fall wreath bursting with harvest blooms.—
Maria Sabella,
Better Homes & Gardens,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Meanwhile, the Enchanted glittered with edible pink shimmer dust, and bursting with fruity, botanical flavors – Grey Goose with watermelon basil essences, vermouth and basil.—
John Metcalfe,
Mercury News,
12 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
During the prelims in Tokyo, Seville had a concerning slow reaction to the starting gun.—
Katelyn Hutchison,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
-
Parisian servers may have an undeserved reputation for being slow, but instead of complaining or searching for faster service elsewhere, settle in with a book or newspaper.—
Lane Nieset,
Travel + Leisure,
14 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In short, this is a smart gel where tiny sliding molecules act like both shock absorbers and stress indicators.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Sep. 2025
-
As has become tradition, the ads will reference trends and conversations in college football like the coaching hot seat, flag planting and quarterbacks sliding in the draft.—
Kristi Dosh,
Forbes.com,
13 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In it, a monster with bolts in his head and a shuffling gate was created by a man.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
9 Sep. 2025
-
The closures have resulted in staff shuffling throughout the library system and rescheduled activities such as author talks and photography exhibits.—
Noah Lyons,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
5 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crawling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crawling. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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