creek

¹ American  

[kreek, krik] / krik, krɪk /

noun

1. U.S. and Canada. a stream smaller than a river.

2. a stream or channel in a coastal marsh.

3. Chiefly Atlantic States and British. a recess or inlet in the shore of the sea.

4. an estuary.

5. British Dialect. a narrow, winding passage or hidden recess.

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idioms

1. up the / a creek (without a paddle), 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.

Creek ² American  

[kreek] / krik /

noun

plural

Creeks,

plural

Creek

1. a member of a confederacy of North American Indians that in historic times occupied the greater part of Alabama and Georgia.

2. Also called Muskogee.  a Muskogean language that is the language of the Creek Indians.

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creek ¹ British  

/ kriːk /

noun

1. a narrow inlet or bay, esp of the sea

2. a small stream or tributary

3. slang in trouble; in a difficult position

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Creek ² British  

/ kriːk /

noun

1. a member of a confederacy of Native American peoples formerly living in Georgia and Alabama, now chiefly in Oklahoma

2. any of the languages of these peoples, belonging to the Muskhogean family

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creek More Idioms  

1. see up a creek.

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Other Word Forms

• subcreek noun

Etymology

Origin of creek

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English creke, variant of crike, from Old Norse kriki “bend, crook”

Example Sentences

The property features three creeks that “meander through the ranch for over five miles,” as well as irrigated meadows and “historic water rights irrigating 1,200 acres.”

From MarketWatch

Buildings such as "schools, health facilities, businesses, and large industrial facilities and factories located along major rivers and creeks, were also heavily impacted, accounting for $562 million in estimated damages," the World Bank said.

From Barron's

But her sister’s house sat near a swollen creek that had done serious damage in prior floods.

From The Wall Street Journal

Along rivers and creeks, bright yellow cottonwood trees congregated in bursts of yellow.

From Los Angeles Times

Higher in the mountains, the evidence of BTAZ’s grazing was even clearer: swaths of ground chewed and trampled bare, discarded plastic piping, cow feces and bones in an unfenced creek.

From Salon