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
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012Other Word Forms
- creakily adverb
- creakiness noun
- creakingly adverb
- creaky adjective
Etymology
Origin of creak
1275–1325; Middle English creken to croak, apparently back formation from Old English crǣcettan, variant of crācettan to croak
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.
Investors have been hunting for which banks could be next to fall as the system creaks under the pressure of much higher interest rates.
From Seattle Times
The Internal Revenue Service, which funds nearly everything the federal government does, uses information technology that is creaking with old age.
From Washington Post
It doesn’t creak or grind disconcertingly when you open or close it, and the seams and tolerances are nice and tight.
From The Verge
MENDOCINO, Calif. — As a measure of both the nation’s creaking infrastructure and the severity of the drought gripping California there is the $5 shower.
From New York Times
As life creaks back open and friends reunite, this dilemma keeps coming up.
From Seattle Times
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.
