In The Paying Guests, the house, which creaks and stands so still and yet so freighted, is almost a character in itself.
“I live in a house that creaks, and when I am asleep and hear that groan, it reminds me that I am back in the mine,” said Avalos.
creaks and cracks and rustlings mysterious and unexplainable.
This cottage rattles and creaks, and when the wind blows, it comes in through every chink.
A thing that creaks is not standing still and gathering mildew.
It is hanging on the sands—how it creaks and sways in the wind!
We had heard lots of creaks already, but somehow this one startled us both.
That door”—she pointed to the door by which she had entered—“creaks horribly.
For all her wrinkles and creaks, what a fine vessel she was for the power, to be sure!
The great sign at the top of the hotel swings and creaks and groans.
early 14c., "utter a harsh cry," of imitative origin. Used of the sound made by a rusty gate hinge, etc., from 1580s. Related: Creaked; creaking. As a noun, from c.1600.
verb
To show signs of wear; be near collapse: indications that their marriages are creaking (1930s+)
