creak
verb (used without object)
to make a sharp, harsh, grating, or squeaking sound.
were creaking
-
past progressiveof creak.past progressive
Used to describe an ongoing action or continuous state that was happening at a specific time in the past.
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.
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
Swansea were creaking, and Barnsley deservedly levelled when Williams led a rapid counter-attack before squaring for Woodrow to flash a crisp shot into the bottom corner of the net.
From BBC ● May 22, 2021
This music has a scraping quality, deploying sounds created by sliding a bow across a polystyrene block, or crunching the bow hard on a string, barely moving, as if a door were creaking.
From New York Times ● Mar. 12, 2015
But as the web increased in size in the late 1990s, directories such as Yahoo, which used human editors instead of automation to rank web pages, were creaking under the strain.
From The Guardian ● May 24, 2010
The air was thick with them, fluttering yellow from the branches; for there was a warm and gentle breeze blowing softly in the valley, and the reeds were rustling, and the willow-boughs were creaking.
From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien
