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
Other 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.
Nate looks up at the sound of the door creaking open, tosses his fringe of hair out of his eyes.
From Literature
Nearing the eleven o’clock hour, when the waxy moon loomed high above the creaking canopy of Deadwood, Clare was awakened by a knock.
From Literature
It wasn’t a confirmation, but you could feel the hype machine creak into action at even the most remote chance of the old Tiger magic.
When Ms. Beetz sums up her ordeal by saying, “Rich people,” the script’s reach for significance is so awkward it creaks.
The infrastructure of the national grid is creaking under the prospect of moving some of that electricity from the remote areas where it is generated to the population centres further south.
From BBC
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.
