Also 7–8 crawle, craul(e. See also KRAAL. [a. Colonial Du. kraal, a. Sp. corral: see CORRAL.]
† 1. An enclosure, pen or building for keeping hogs (in the West Indies). Obs.
1660. Hickeringill, Jamaica (1661), 17. They build two or three little Houses, or more; by them called a Crawle, and in these, they first inclose these tame Hoggs.
1707. Sloane, Jamaica, I. p. xvii. These Crawles or houses and sties built for feeding and breeding hogs.
b. ‘On the coast of Africa, a pen for slaves awaiting shipment’ (Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 1867).
2. A pen or enclosure of stakes and hurdles in shallow water on the sea-coast, to contain fish, turtles, etc. Also a reservoir for keeping caught turtles, lobsters, etc., in stock for the market.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1789), Crawl, a sort of pen, or place of confinement, formed by a barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain any sort of fish within it.
1833. M. Scott, Tom Cringle, xvi. (1859), 420. The Turtle Crawls filled with beautiful clear water.
1883. Pall Mall Gaz., 21 Nov., 11/1. The custom is to give the turtles in stock … three days in the ‘crawl’ and three days in the tank.
1885. Lady Brassey, The Trades, 338. The spongers go ashore and build a pen, or ‘crawl,’ of stakes, close to the water’s edge.
3. A village, or enclosure of huts, of Bushmen, Hottentots, or other South African natives: in which sense commonly written KRAAL q.v.
