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
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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
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creaksimple
-
creakssimple
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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
Just the sunny day causing an old building to creak and groan, or something uncanny?
From BBC ● Oct. 29, 2024
He heard the creak of the platform turning with the weight of the voladores as the rope unspooled counterclockwise, and the music of the drum and flute.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
We all hear a creak and scrape across the floorboards above our heads.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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
Collectively, the team's defence, which has kept opposition shuttling sideways for the past year, was suddenly full of creaks and creases for Scotland to exploit.
From BBC ● Feb. 14, 2026
Tom has reached an age when he can no longer get around the house without an accompaniment of creaks and groans and thuds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 26, 2025
The lead of the horror-tinged heart-tugger “Good Boy” is a copper-colored retriever named Indy who pads around an eerie house deep in the New Jersey woods investigating its mysterious creaks, shadows and smells.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
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
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
Germany’s economy as a whole has stagnated since late 2019, after its manufacturing base creaked under high energy prices, increased competition, and a slowdown in Chinese demand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 9, 2025
The wood floors creaked as I moved to the study, where I found Dad, leaning on his crutches, looking at the photos on the wall.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
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
That has pushed a system, already creaking under years of under-investment and trade sanctions, to the point of collapse.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Tryl says although it is clear Britain is "creaking at the top", his research on public opinion suggests the foundations of community still appear to be strong.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
NAIROBI, Kenya—The fast-spreading Ebola virus is overwhelming creaking hospitals and clinics in the Democratic Republic of Congo, dimming hopes for quick containment of what is already the third-largest outbreak of the killer disease in history.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
He stretches his fingers, frowning at the audible creaking of the joints.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
