crabble
English
Etymology
From crab + -le (frequentative suffix). Compare English crawl, of similar formation. Compare also Dutch krabbelen, German krabbeln.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -æbəl
Verb
crabble (third-person singular simple present crabbles, present participle crabbling, simple past and past participle crabbled)
- (intransitive) To creep, crawl, or clamber, like a crab
- 2014, Darusha Wehm, Gary Cahill, Ian Creasey, Plan B Volume III: a mystery and crime anthology:
- His gray shape was a bandy legged bug crabbling up the dark cobblestones.
- 2016, Edward Ahern, Capricious Visions:
- The chameleon crabbled to the middle of the coffee table and defecated.
- 2017, Hans Andersen, What the Moon Saw: and Other Tales:
- He cribbled and crabbled about there with all his might; but he got a good pressing from the boy's hand for this, which served as a hint to him to keep quiet.
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Anagrams
- cabbler, clabber