*craw*

n. [ Akin to D. kraag neck, collar, G. kragen, Sw. kräfva craw, Dan. kro, and possibly to Gr. &unr_;&unr_;&unr_;&unr_; (E. bronchus), or bro`chqos throat. √25. Cf. Crag neck. ] (Zool.) (a) The crop of a bird. (b) The stomach of an animal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) same as crawfish [ PJC ]

v. i. to back out in a humilating manner; as, We'll have to crawfish out from meeting with him.
Syn. -- retreat, back out, back away, crawfish out, withdraw. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A Crawford peach; a well-known freestone peach, with yellow flesh, first raised by Mr. William Crawford, of New Jersey. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Crawled p. pr. & vb. n. Crawling. ] [ Dan. kravle, or Icel. krafla, to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Sw. kräla to crawl; cf. LG. krabbeln, D. krabbelen to scratch. ] 1. To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep. [ 1913 Webster ]

A worm finds what it searches after only by feeling, as it crawls from one thing to another. Grew. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

He was hardly able to crawl about the room. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

The meanest thing that crawl'd beneath my eyes. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct. [ 1913 Webster ]

Secretly crawling up the battered walls. Knolles. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hath crawled into the favor of the king. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Absurd opinions crawl about the world. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls. See Creep, v. i., 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The act or motion of crawling; slow motion, as of a creeping animal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Kraal. ] A pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, crawls; a creeper; a reptile. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Swimming) A racing stroke, in which the swimmer, lying flat on the water with face submerged, takes alternate overhand arm strokes while moving his legs up and down alternately from the knee. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Creepy. [ Colloq. ]

{ , n.; pl. -fishes or -fish. [ Corrupted fr. OE. crevis, creves, OF. crevice, F. écrevisse, fr. OHG. krebiz crab, G. krebs. See Crab. The ending -fish arose from confusion with E. fish. ] (Zool.) Any decapod crustacean of the family Astacidæ (genera Cambarus and Cambarus), resembling the lobster, but smaller, and found in fresh waters. Crawfishes are esteemed very delicate food both in Europe and America. The North American species are numerous and mostly belong to the genus Cambarus. The blind crawfish of the Mammoth Cave is Cambarus pellucidus. The common European species is Astacus fluviatilis.
Syn. -- crawdad, crawdaddy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. tiny lobsterlike crustaceans usually boiled briefly.
Syn. -- crawdad, ecrevisse. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

3. a large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters.
Syn. -- spiny lobster, langouste, rock lobster, crayfish, sea crawfish. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. A terrestrial worm that burrows into and helps aerate soil; an earthworm. It often surfaces when the ground is cool or wet, and is used as bait by anglers. The term is used mostly in the northern and western U. S.
Syn. -- earthworm, angleworm, fishworm, fishing worm, wiggler, nightwalker, dew worm, red worm. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. 1. 1 to go from one pub or tavern to the next and get progressively more drunk.
Syn. -- bar hop. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Ir. scrath a turf, sgraith a turf, green sod; akin to Gael. sgrath, sgroth, the outer skin of anything, a turf, a green sod. ] A turf. [ Obs. ] Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To write unskillfully and inelegantly. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though with a golden pen you scrawl. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. See Crawl. [ Obs. ] Latimer. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Scrawled p. pr. & vb. n. Scrawling. ] [ Probably corrupted from scrabble. ] To draw or mark awkwardly and irregularly; to write hastily and carelessly; to scratch; to scribble; as, to scrawl a letter. [ 1913 Webster ]

His name, scrawled by himself. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Unskillful or inelegant writing; that which is unskillfully or inelegantly written. [ 1913 Webster ]

The left hand will make such a scrawl, that it will not be legible. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

You bid me write no more than a scrawl to you. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who scrawls; a hasty, awkward writer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. Scrannel. ] Meager; thin; rawboned; bony; scranny. [ 1913 Webster ]