crawl space

• crawlspace

crawl space (plural crawl spaces)

1. (construction) A narrow opening underneath the bottom of a building or storey used to give access to pipes, cables and other utilities.
   • 2019, Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys, Fleet, page 147:

     When he couldn’t take another step he hid under a lonesome gray house and squatted in the fetid water of the crawl space.