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
Relevance
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
Vasily Grossman,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
Jude Cornell joined a swarm of toddlers crawling after soccer balls, tossing training cones into the air and relocating a goalie net that was proving to be very, very portable.
—
ABC News,
30 June 2026
Both a new channel and a new customer, AI search acts as an intermediary between your brand and the end user, crawling, extracting, summarizing, comparing and recommending—often without prompting a visit to your site.
—
Adrien Menard,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2026
Ellison would wake up with his stomach knotted, his skin crawling with a rash.
—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
The game was crawling along at a snail’s pace with a rare boundary here and there.
—
Mohsin Kamal,
New York Times,
25 June 2026
Add a Physical Barrier Since ticks prefer to hide in grass and other plants and brush, adding a non-plant barrier like wood chips or gravel can stop ticks from ever crawling into your yard.
—
Heather Bien,
The Spruce,
23 June 2026
The video shows an officer tumbling on the ground, crawling in front of a parked car for cover and ultimately becoming fully prone.
—
Mirna Alsharif,
NBC news,
22 June 2026
On land, movements range from crawling and slithering (worms, mollusks, arthropods, snakes) to walking and running.
—
Literary Hub,
22 June 2026
Verb
The Germans were crawling as far as the street, dashing across the asphalt, then leaping into the second trench.
—
Vasily Grossman,
Harpers Magazine,
30 June 2026
Jude Cornell joined a swarm of toddlers crawling after soccer balls, tossing training cones into the air and relocating a goalie net that was proving to be very, very portable.
—
ABC News,
30 June 2026
Both a new channel and a new customer, AI search acts as an intermediary between your brand and the end user, crawling, extracting, summarizing, comparing and recommending—often without prompting a visit to your site.
—
Adrien Menard,
Forbes.com,
29 June 2026
Ellison would wake up with his stomach knotted, his skin crawling with a rash.
—
Burkhard Bilger,
New Yorker,
29 June 2026
The game was crawling along at a snail’s pace with a rare boundary here and there.
—
Mohsin Kamal,
New York Times,
25 June 2026
Add a Physical Barrier Since ticks prefer to hide in grass and other plants and brush, adding a non-plant barrier like wood chips or gravel can stop ticks from ever crawling into your yard.
—
Heather Bien,
The Spruce,
23 June 2026
The video shows an officer tumbling on the ground, crawling in front of a parked car for cover and ultimately becoming fully prone.
—
Mirna Alsharif,
NBC news,
22 June 2026
On land, movements range from crawling and slithering (worms, mollusks, arthropods, snakes) to walking and running.
—
Literary Hub,
22 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crawling
Adjective
-
Mondays have $5 martinis, mules and margaritas, Fridays and Saturdays are for boogying upstairs and the patio at Metro is an any-day spot for a leisurely drink or three.
-
That was when the lensman captured the social set at their leisurely and often strikingly dressed best.
Verb
-
Costs begin creeping higher, margins get a little tighter and profitability comes under pressure.
-
About 1 million 16-to-24-year-olds now find themselves not in employment, education or training, with levels creeping toward highs not seen since the 2008 financial crash.
Verb
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Compounding concerns, California officials say the Department of Transportation is dragging its feet.
-
One small habit that has helped me tremendously is dragging important emails directly into my calendar.
Verb
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Calderón, a big, bald man wearing a gold chain and cross-shaped earrings, sat off to the side, amid an entourage of muscular assistants in polo shirts, poking at his phone.
-
If their edges are poking out from your ice sphere, your ice will melt and break apart faster.
Verb
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Join hundreds of boats and hundreds more tourists on the riverwalk to catch the bombs bursting in air.
-
The Kings’ defense corps was once its bedrock, bursting with depth, quality and the ability to convert a home-plate mentality into counterattacking opportunities.
Adjective
-
What to expect over the weekend Though Friday was expected to be the slowest day of the competition, the atmosphere at Cal Expo was anything but dull.
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Some residents are calling for civilian volunteers to help clear debris, frustrated by the slow pace of the rescue operations.
Verb
-
Timberwolves general manager Matt Lloyd said Minnesota was considering selecting Duke wing Isaiah Evans with the 28th pick in this week’s NBA Draft, prior to the Wolves sliding back five selections due to the Julius Randle trade.
-
Tire tread depth - Checking your tire tread before hitting the road is important, as low or no tread can lead to sliding.
Verb
-
Enola dutifully trudges between clues and possibilities, shuffling through crime scenes and racing around shady spaces, all of this much more paint-by-numbers than connect-the-dots.
-
Colombia is trying its luck from distance, but Costa has been equal to each shot, first punching away Jefferson Lerma's rocket from the right, about 25 yards out, and then shuffling his feet to his left and catching Jhon Arias's shot from about the same distance.
Cite this Entry
“Crawling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crawling. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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