Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Informal One, such as a spider, insect, or worm, that crawls.
- n. Informal A sensation of fear, repugnance, or nervous agitation.
Wiktionary
- n. Any small crawling animal such as a spider, insect or worm.
- n. Australia, informal an automated suction pool cleaner.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an animal that creeps or crawls (such as worms or spiders or insects)
- adj. causing a sensation as of things crawling on your skin
Etymologies
- From Kreepy Krauly, brand name, from Etymology 1 (Wiktionary)
Examples
“The epic "Little People Black City" cycled through 10 minutes of mood swings - from lush synthesizer-driven romance, to skeletal machine-funk - but at its emotional crest, the audience swaying along, Dear's desires got kind of creepy-crawly.”
“It came in a steady flood from Fang to me and, through me, to all the creepy-crawly things I could hurl at the ground and at the concrete, at the brick, and at the stone.”
“Cut me a little slack, however, as the setting for this novel is set almost entirely withing the confines of a condemned hotel along the Jersey shore, with enough creepy-crawly critters stirring within it's walls to put you on edge.”
“From New York to Los Angeles, the little, nighttime, creepy-crawly bloodsuckers have been moving beyond household digs, spreading their wings so to speak, as they are wingless, flightless critters to hotels, movie theaters, offices, department stores.”
The Huffington Post: Bill Chameides: Is Propoxur the Way to Not Let the Bedbugs Bite?
“Check it out, but beware, some of it is a very tiny bit creepy-crawly, for those of you with delicate stomachs.”
“From the mighty to the minuscule, the cute and cuddly to the creepy-crawly, amazing adventures await budding young explorers with the Smithsonian Networks Kids Pack, available on DVD today from Infinity Entertainment Group.”
“A handful of soil contains tens of billions of creepy-crawly microorganisms.”
The Huffington Post: Maria Rodale: I Bet You Don't Know Jack about Dirt!
“Some people found it creepy-crawly, and others were fascinated," Bleiman said.”
“It was the gnawing in his gut that gave it away, that creepy-crawly upset in the pre-dawn darkness.”
“Could I sneak into the Gehennas theater before tonights first show, avoid Madrigal and his creepy-crawly assistants, and do something about Margie?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘creepy-crawly’.
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Phonestheme: CR- (or KR-)
Grateful credit to pterodactyl and http://reocities.com/SoHo/Studios/9783/phond1.html.
crook, crack, crane, cremains, cranberries, crimp, crow, crunch, crash, creak, croak, cronk and 94 more...
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oddball
wackadoodlery.
( personal list )
related (from me):
http://www.wordnik.com/lists/onomatopoeias--1
bric-a-brac, succotash, humbucker, skedaddle, scallywag, sassafras, gadzooks, humdinger, hoity-toity, wishy-washy, namby-pamby, ding dong and 441 more...
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Folk entomology
Words for bugs 'n things. Mostly because I like the list name.
bug, beetle, creepy-crawly, skeeter, roach, water bug, palmetto bug
Tweets
Looking for tweets for creepy-crawly.
fbharjo a wiggly crawfishiness? Apr 27, 2011