creak
Americanverb (used without object)
-
creaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
creaked,
past participle, past
-
creaking
present participle
-
to make a sharp, harsh, grating, or squeaking sound.
-
to move with creaking.
verb (used with object)
-
creaks,
present (3rd person singular)
-
creaked,
past participle, past
-
creaking
present participle
noun
-
creaks
plural
verb
-
to make or cause to make a harsh squeaking sound
-
(intr) to make such sounds while moving
the old car creaked along
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
creaksimple
-
creakssimple
-
have creakedperfect
-
has creakedperfect
-
am creakingprogressive
-
are creakingprogressive
-
is creakingprogressive
-
have been creakingperfect progressive
-
has been creakingperfect progressive
Past
-
creakedsimple
-
had creakedperfect
-
was creakingprogressive
-
were creakingprogressive
-
had been creakingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of creak
1275–1325; Middle English creken to croak, apparently back formation from Old English crǣcettan, variant of crācettan to croak
Explanation
To creak is to make a high, groaning sound, like a rusty gate swinging shut. The old, worn floorboards in your house might creak as you walk down the hall. Old doors and gates creak as they open, and tree branches creak as they blow around in very heavy wind. The sound itself is also a creak: "The creak of the front door in the silent house made them jump." In the 14th century, to creak was to "utter a harsh cry," and soon afterward it came to mean the same noise made by an object. Creak is imitative — the word itself sounds like a creak.
Vocabulary lists containing creak
Lend Me Your Ears: Sound Words
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"Fear" and "Violence Hits Home"
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"The Last Word"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It wasn’t a confirmation, but you could feel the hype machine creak into action at even the most remote chance of the old Tiger magic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 29, 2026
She heard music everywhere: a spoon banging against a cooking pot, the honking of geese overheard, the creak and slam of a screen door.
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2026
She’s used to hearing provisional bleachers creak under sunscreen-slathered fans as music buzzes through nearby portable speakers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2025
Just the sunny day causing an old building to creak and groan, or something uncanny?
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2024
Then a creak, as of a bending tree branch, followed by an “Ouch!”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
The production’s novelty: Audience members wear headphones, so we hear Lucas’s voice more intimately, and also the creaks and thumps and eerie noises that enhance the chilling tale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026
As French firefighters struggle to contain the worst wildfires in living memory with just 12 aerial water bombers, production of the iconic aircraft creaks along half a world away in a Canadian factory.
From Barron's ● Jul. 28, 2026
Fennell begins on a black screen and the sound of creaks and moans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 11, 2026
The track is alive with phantom creaks and a chilling atmosphere; it sounds like it was recorded in the attic of a haunted house.
From New York Times ● Nov. 15, 2024
She slides the Netbook into a file with four others, stands, and guides me through a doorway and down a hall that creaks under her heavy footsteps.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
It creaked past his shelter, past the collapsed buildings and ravaged orchards towards the west, away from the Yellow Line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
The tram creaked past deserted factories that once produced mining equipment and porcelain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
So, just shy of 80 years since its launch, the trams of Druzhkivka have creaked their way around the city for the last time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
"Derry Girls just creaked the door open ... because there's such trust in the fact that people will watch a story about that place, about those people," she said.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Their footsteps creaked through the living room, dining room, and kitchen.
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
A score by Latham and Shelby Gaines balances discordant, atonal tones with suspense-driven sound design that captures the creaking noises of the forest and the concealed dangers it holds.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
I am sure he will get it right eventually, but at the moment they are leaking goals and creaking at the back.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
A creaking staircase that overlooks crenellated battlements leads to the Long Gallery, another Anne of Cleves addition.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026
With its tar-soaked rigging, creaking oak deck and 50 spruce oars, Draken Harald Harfagre is the largest modern replica of a Viking ship.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
I heard the creaking of the tin roof heating under the sun.
From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
