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
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(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:
When the wind blows hard, and their branches and boughs thrash and creak, I am convinced they will topple over and cleave my home in twain.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 4, 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
How many of us have had the experience of hearing an old house creak in the night and wondering if it was something more?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 25, 2024
He said the roof hatch started to come off with "an almighty creak".
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2024
I hear the creak of the door, the crunch of feet on steps.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
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
I’m not saying we’re actively rooting for McIlroy to blow it, but it’s always spicy when the roller coaster creaks and the leaderboard gets shifty.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
‘Mank,’ with 10 Oscar nominations, creaks under the weight of historically inaccurate cliches that obscure women’s contributions to early Hollywood.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 22, 2023
This result creaks open the door a bit further for a resurgent Rangers, who can reduce the gap to six on Sunday at Aberdeen with a game to spare.
From BBC ● Nov. 25, 2023
The lock on the front door clicks, and it creaks open.
From "On the Come Up" by Angie Thomas
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
The tram creaked past deserted factories that once produced mining equipment and porcelain.
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
The two companions strained together until it creaked loudly and opened.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Despite the change in venue, some things are universal in Nigeria, whose creaking grid is as infamous as Lagos traffic: as the models prepped backstage Friday, the power briefly cut out.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
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
Reacting to the announcement, a prison officer told the BBC that they were "creaking at the seams" and that "delaying the releases until October could mean we simply run out of space".
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
The first round was marred by logistical problems and a vote count that took weeks to complete, deepening distrust in Peru's creaking institutions.
From Barron's ● Jun. 7, 2026
There was no trill of cicadas or chattering apes in the trees, just a low creaking in the breeze, a whisper.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
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.
