crawl over each other
Clamber across bodies
To crawl over each other describes creatures or people moving in such density that they climb across one another's bodies—insects swarming, crabs in a bucket, crowds in panic.
The image suggests frantic, undignified competition where individuals treat others as obstacles or stepping stones: Lobbyists crawl over each other to get the senator's attention.
The phrase emphasizes desperate self-interest in crowded conditions.
- wriggleTwisting, snakelike movement
- clamberClimb with effort
- jostlePush roughly against
- creepStealthy, slow movement
- swarmMass of moving insects
pile up · desperation · survival mode · every man for himself · writhe · scuttle · press · jockeying · crush · mob mentality · squeeze · shove · mass · anxiety · opportunism · cutthroat · tangle · thrash
crawl over each otherqueue up
Join waiting line
line up · file past · take turns · parade · process
crawl over each othermake way
Allow passage through
give way · step aside · wait one's turn · cooperate · coordinate