crick

[ krik ]

/ krɪk /

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noun

a sharp, painful spasm of the muscles, as of the neck or back.

verb (used with object)

to give a crick or wrench to (the neck, back, etc.).

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Origin of crick

1400–50; late Middle English crikke, perhaps akin to crick²

Words nearby crick

cribriform, crib-wall, cribwork, cricetid, Crichton, crick, cricket, cricket frog, cricket table, Crick, Francis H. C., cricoid

Other definitions for crick (2 of 3)

crick²

[ krik ]

/ krɪk /

noun Northern, North Midland, and Western U.S.

creek (def. 1).

Other definitions for crick (3 of 3)

Crick

[ krik ]

/ krɪk /

noun

Francis Harry Compton, 1916–2004, English biophysicist: Nobel Prize in Medicine 1962.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use crick in a sentence

At Cavendish Laboratory Biophysics Unit at Cambridge, Watson met the intellectually unstoppable Crick, and in two years, the duo built the first sound model of DNA’s structure.
One of the Most Egregious Ripoffs in the History of Science - Issue 107: The Edge|Kevin Berger|October 20, 2021|Nautilus
With “sinister manipulations,” Markel writes, Crick and Watson maneuvered to omit a formal citation of Franklin’s data in their 1953 Nature paper, spelling out their construction of the double-helix model.
One of the Most Egregious Ripoffs in the History of Science - Issue 107: The Edge|Kevin Berger|October 20, 2021|Nautilus
In the 1980s Crick found a brilliant collaborator in the young scientist Christof Koch.
The Spiritual Consciousness of Christof Koch - Issue 107: The Edge|Steve Paulson|October 13, 2021|Nautilus
The neurons extend from a set of cells known as the claustrum, which Crick and Koch maintained could act as a seat of consciousness.
The Spiritual Consciousness of Christof Koch - Issue 107: The Edge|Steve Paulson|October 13, 2021|Nautilus

The Crick scientists told DeepMind that AlphaFold 2’s structures seemed plausible and encouraged the company to publish them.
DeepMind’s new protein-folding A.I. is already helping in the fight against COVID-19|Jeremy Kahn|November 30, 2020|Fortune
You have, therefore, a constant crick in the neck, but this is nothing to the pain in your knees and thighs.
Thatcher's Economic Legacy|Megan McArdle|April 8, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Crick also questioned the authenticity of another piece, “A Hanging.”
Orwell’s Lies: His Diaries Reveal Problems with the Truth|Jimmy So|August 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And when three come, me and Maud was on the Bar Y road where it goes acrosst that crick-bottom.
Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher|Eleanor Gates
His daddy died; his mother lived on a little place in town, up-crick from the bridge.
David Lannarck, Midget|George S. Harney
Then he got indicted with others fer robbin' a little tannery that was operatin' down the crick.
David Lannarck, Midget|George S. Harney
They was a crick about a hundred yards from our house, in the woods, and I went over there and laid down and watched it run by.
Danny's Own Story|Don Marquis
They was a good-sized crick at the edge of that little place, and on it an old-fashioned worter mill.
Danny's Own Story|Don Marquis

British Dictionary definitions for crick (1 of 3)

crick¹

/ (krɪk) informal /

noun

a painful muscle spasm or cramp, esp in the neck or back

verb

(tr) to cause a crick in (the neck, back, etc)

Word Origin for crick

C15: of uncertain origin

British Dictionary definitions for crick (2 of 3)

crick²

/ (krɪk) /

noun

US and Canadian a dialect word for creek (def. 2)

British Dictionary definitions for crick (3 of 3)

Crick

/ (krɪk) /

noun

Francis Harry Compton. 1916–2004, English molecular biologist: helped to discover the helical structure of DNA; Nobel prize for physiology or medicine shared with James Watson and Maurice Wilkins 1962

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

Scientific definitions for crick

Crick

[ krĭk ]

Francis Harry Compton 1916-2004

See Note at Rosalind Franklin.

British biologist who with James D. Watson identified the structure of DNA in 1953. By analyzing the patterns cast by x-rays striking DNA molecules, they found that DNA has the structure of a double helix, consisting of two spirals linked together at the base, forming ladderlike rungs. For this work they shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for physiology or medicine with Maurice Wilkins.

crick

Origin of crick

Words nearby crick

Other definitions for crick (2 of 3)

Other definitions for crick (3 of 3)

Words related to crick

How to use crick in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for crick (1 of 3)

Word Origin for crick

British Dictionary definitions for crick (2 of 3)

British Dictionary definitions for crick (3 of 3)

Scientific definitions for crick