The rare daily word game sweeping the globe. Find what's hidden in plain sight.
CRAWL
Definition of CRAWL
verb
To move by dragging one's body along or close to a surface, like a worm or insect, or on one's hands and knees, like a human baby.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA
Where it comes from
From Middle English crawlen, crewlen, creulen, crallen, *cravelen, from Old Norse krafla (compare Danish kravle (“to crawl, creep”), Swedish kravla, kräla (“to creep, crawl”)), from Proto-Germanic *krablōną (compare Saterland Frisian krabbelje, Dutch krabbelen, German Low German krabbeln, German krabbeln), frequentative of *krabbōną (“to scratch, scrape”). Compare also Saterland Frisian krauelje (“to crawl, scuttle”), West Frisian kreauwelje (“to crawl”), Dutch krevelen, krieuwelen (“to crawl”), German Low German kribbeln, German kribbeln (“to creep, crawl, tingle”). See also crab, crabble.
Etymology via Wiktionary (CC BY-SA).
Word DNA
Line of descent
5 recorded generations before English.
Deepest traced root
6th
of 59 source languages in OUTLIER
4.7%
of traced words share this origin (3,940)
branch · 22.6% of traced words
How it is built
Same root, CRAWL · 7 relatives in the game
Its etymology also names Dutch.
OUTLIER scores every word on how unusual it is, and that number is not published. Working it out at the board is the game.
CRAWL in OUTLIER
Players have found it on 15 boards so far. 20 players have found it across Outlier's history.
It first turned up on Day 25, 14 June 2026. The most recent board was Day 157, 24 October 2026. Nobody has seen it on a board for 11 days.
First ever to find it
on Day 25, 14 June 2026 - before anyone else in Outlier's history. See the Pioneers
Built from these letters
CRAWL starts with C and ends with L. Sorted, its letters read ACLRW - the shape to hunt for when the grid is scrambled. No letter is used twice, which makes it an isogram.
Words that start CRAWL
Its neighbours in the OUTLIER dictionary - shortest first.
Also seen on Day 25
Could you have found CRAWL?
OUTLIER is a daily word game. One grid, the same grid for everybody, and the words nobody else spots are the ones that pay. This word was on Day 25 - and most players walked straight past it.
Play today's OUTLIER