crawler
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ɔːlə(ɹ)
Etymology 1
From crawl (“to move slowly, by dragging the body along the ground”) + -er.
Noun
crawler (plural crawlers)
- A child who is able to creep using its hands and knees but is not able to walk.
- (sports) A crawl swimmer.
- A tractor crawler, a motorized vehicle that uses caterpillar tracks instead of wheels.
- (Internet) A software bot that autonomously follows connected paths such as links between web pages.
- Synonym: spider
- 2011, James Pearce, Professional Mobile Web Development with WordPress, Joomla! and Drupal, page 466:
- These serve as an algorithmic way to judge the “mobileness” of a site, and similar algorithms are likely to be used by the search crawlers.
- A mobile stage in the development of stationary hemipteran insects such as scale insects—generally the first instar.
Derived terms
Translations
child able to creep
crawl swimmer
tractor crawler
|
Etymology 2
From crawl (“to act in a servile manner”) + -er.
From the Australian convict period (1788–1850); a prisoner who was purposely and extensively abused by an overseer (also a convict) and thereby driven to escape but who, finding it impossible to survive in the Australian bush, surrenders to this overseer, who would then have his penal term reduced. The particular crawler was picked for his weak personality and might escape and return a number of times increasing his own penal term each time. According to James Tucker, some convict overseers had their sentences extensively reduced using this odious practice.[1]
Noun
crawler (plural crawlers)
- (Australia, obsolete) A person who is abused, physically or verbally, and returns to the abuser a supplicant.
- (UK, Australia, slang) A sycophant.
Translations
sycophant — see sycophant
References
- James Tucker (1845) Ralph Rashleigh; or, The Life of an Exile
Anagrams
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
