Quantcast
 
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

creek

 - 6 dictionary results

creek

  [kreek, krik]
–noun
1. U.S., Canada, and Australia. 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.
—Idiom
6. up the creek, Slang. in a predicament; in a difficult or seemingly hopeless situation.
Use creek in a Sentence
Origin:
1200–50; ME creke, var. of crike < ON kriki bend, crook

Creek

  [kreek]
–noun, plural Creeks, (especially collectively) 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.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
Cite This Source Link To creek
creek   (krēk, krĭk)   
n.  

  1. A small stream, often a shallow or intermittent tributary to a river. Also called regionally branch, brook1, kill2, run.

  2. A channel or stream running through a salt marsh: tidal creeks teeming with shore wildlife.

  3. Chiefly British A small inlet in a shoreline, extending farther inland than a cove.


[Middle English creke, probably from Old Norse kriki, bend.]
Creek   (krēk)   
n.   pl. Creek or Creeks In all senses also called Muskogee1.

    1. A Native American people formerly inhabiting eastern Alabama, southwest Georgia, and northwest Florida and now located in central Oklahoma and southern Alabama. The Creek were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s.

    2. A member of this people.

    3. The Muskogean language of the Creek.

    4. A Native American confederacy made up of the Creek and various smaller southeast tribes.

    5. A member of this confederacy.

    1. A Native American confederacy made up of the Creek and various smaller southeast tribes.

    2. A member of this confederacy.


[From the picturesque creeks near which they lived.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

creek 
1449, creke "narrow inlet in a coastline," from kryk (c.1230), probably from O.N. kriki "nook," perhaps infl. by Anglo-Fr. crique, itself from a Scand. source via Norman. Perhaps ultimately related to crook. Extended to "inlet or short arm of a river" by 1577, which probably led to use for "small stream, brook" in Amer.Eng. (1622). Also used there and in Canada, Australia, New Zealand for "branch of a main river," possibly from explorers moving up main rivers and seeing and noting mouths of tributaries without knowing they often were extensive rivers of their own. Slang phrase up the creek "in trouble," often esp. "pregnant," first recorded 1941, perhaps originally armed forces slang for "lost while on patrol." The Creek Indian tribe or confederation (1725) was named for the geographical feature. Native name is Muskogee.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

creek

see up a creek.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see creek on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
ExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyThe Daily BeastUrbanspoonAsk AnswersBloglinesSendori