creak
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to make a sharp, harsh, grating, or squeaking sound.
-
to move with creaking.
verb (used with object)
noun
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
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
have creakedperfect
-
has creakedperfect 3rd person singular
-
has been creakingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
-
are creakingprogressive
-
am creakingprogressive 1st person singular
-
creakssingular 3rd person
-
have been creakingperfect progressive
-
is creakingprogressive 3rd person singular
-
creakingparticiple
Past
-
had creakedperfect
-
had been creakingperfect progressive
-
creakedparticiple
-
were creakingprogressive plural
-
creakedsimple
-
was creakingprogressive singular
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
"Fear" and "Violence Hits Home"
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
"The Last Word"
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
Southern Section: The team championships are May 15 at seven different courses, with Division 1 at Cross Creak Golf Course.
From Los Angeles Times • May 7, 2023
Emergency management officials reported people were still trapped in the St. Vrain Creak, Fourmile Canyon, Lefthand Creek and Coal Creek streams around 6 a.m., hours after the rainfall started.
From New York Times • Sep. 12, 2013
"Creak," said the funny little something in the machinery.
From The White Linen Nurse by Abbott, Eleanor Hallowell
Margaret Creak having died without leaving legal heirs, it was held that her property devolved upon the Crown, for a strange will made by her had been decided to be void and of no effect.
From Norfolk Annals A Chronological Record of Remarkable Events in the Nineteeth Century, Vol. 2 by Mackie, Charles
"Creak went the jack; the cats were scar'd, "We had not time to heed 'em, "The owd hins cackled in the yard, "For we forgot to feed 'em!
From Wild Flowers Or, Pastoral and Local Poetry by Bloomfield, Robert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
