creek
U.S. and Canada. a stream smaller than a river.
a stream or channel in a coastal marsh.
Chiefly Atlantic States and British. a recess or inlet in the shore of the sea.
an estuary.
British Dialect. a narrow, winding passage or hidden recess.
Idioms about creek
up the / a creek (without a paddle), Informal. in a predicament; in a difficult or seemingly hopeless situation: The pension is so small, I'd be up the creek if I had no other income.Don't ask me to navigate, or we'll be up a creek without a paddle in no time.
Origin of creek
1Other words from creek
- sub·creek, noun
Words that may be confused with creek
Words Nearby creek
Other definitions for Creek (2 of 2)
a member of a confederacy of North American Indians that in historic times occupied the greater part of Alabama and Georgia.
Also called Muskogee. a Muskogean language that is the language of the Creek Indians.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use creek in a sentence
The creek near my home is modest compared to some of the waterways I’ve loved in the past.
Under state laws, it’s illegal to discharge any hazardous substance into a creek or streambed, dry or not.
Oil Companies Are Profiting From Illegal Spills. And California Lets Them. | by Janet Wilson, The Desert Sun, and Lylla Younes, ProPublica | September 18, 2020 | ProPublicaWith CalGEM’s approval, companies turned these into de facto — but permanent — production sites, even in creeks and ravines supposedly protected by environmental laws.
Oil Companies Are Profiting From Illegal Spills. And California Lets Them. | by Janet Wilson, The Desert Sun, and Lylla Younes, ProPublica | September 18, 2020 | ProPublicaThe creek, which in the 1800s ran miles from the Temblor Mountains to the then-vast Buena Vista Lake, is now dry most of the year.
Oil Companies Are Profiting From Illegal Spills. And California Lets Them. | by Janet Wilson, The Desert Sun, and Lylla Younes, ProPublica | September 18, 2020 | ProPublicaDespite the site’s long and dirty history, the water Kinder Morgan treats at its facility in Murray Canyon is good enough to throw back into the local creek – part of its remediation plan approved by the local water quality board.
Pursuing Independent Water Sources, San Diego Ignores One Beneath Its Feet | MacKenzie Elmer | September 14, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
One cold October day in 1968, I climbed out of a warm creek on the Yellowstone Plateau and came face to face with a huge grizzly.
The third eaglet was never found despite a search by the Flint creek volunteers and the landowner.
But he had later received a call from the Cherry creek School District saying she was not in class.
The hills of the remote Green Valley creek near the Russian River reminded Giuseppe of home.
Napa’s Earthquake Is Not The Only Thing Shaking The Vineyards | Clive Irving | August 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWest Dry creek Road has a bunch of good Zinfandel vineyards, of which Rafanelli is, in my experience, the best.
Napa’s Earthquake Is Not The Only Thing Shaking The Vineyards | Clive Irving | August 31, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIn a minute Bruce was back with his hat full of water from the creek that whimpered just beyond the willow patch.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairAbout three o'clock, as nearly as I could tell, we dipped into a wooded creek bottom some two hundred yards in width.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairI swung down from my horse on the brink of the creek, cinched the saddle afresh, and rolled a cigarette.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairNear noon I found a place where they'd cached two extra horses in the brush on Sage creek.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. SinclairAt times the creek was as wide as an ordinary river, at others so contracted that one could gather grass on either side.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
British Dictionary definitions for creek (1 of 2)
/ (kriːk) /
mainly British a narrow inlet or bay, esp of the sea
US, Canadian, Australian and NZ a small stream or tributary
up the creek slang in trouble; in a difficult position
Origin of creek
1British Dictionary definitions for Creek (2 of 2)
/ (kriːk) /
plural Creek or Creeks a member of a confederacy of Native American peoples formerly living in Georgia and Alabama, now chiefly in Oklahoma
any of the languages of these peoples, belonging to the Muskhogean family
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with creek
see up a creek.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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