krabbeln

Meaning

1. (intransitive,weak) to crawl (typically, but not always, of a baby or insect)
2. (transitive,weak) to tickle, especially by making fast movements with all fingers of one hand

Concepts

crawl

creep

climb

scrabble

ascend

pussyfoot

ride

scramble

scuttle

slither

prowl

copulate

go up

mount

Synonyms

kriechen

kribbeln

robben

klettern

gleiten

auf allen Vieren

kitzeln

trippeln

drängeln

beklettern

emporgehen

krauchen

besteigen

hoppeln

flitzen

hinaufgehen

Kummer

nachschleppen

reiten

steigen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈkʁabəln/

Etymology

From Middle Low German krabbelen (“to crawl”), an iterative form of krabben (“to scrape”). Compare Dutch krabbelen and krabben. Possibly derived from Krabbe (“crab”). A strong counterargument to this, however, is the cognate krappeln in Middle High German, which did not have the noun.