creek

B2 Topic:Nature & Landscape

US /kɹik/ UK /kɹiːk/ See IPA manual

Freq #5711

Meanings

1

noun
A small natural stream of water, smaller than a river.

The children waded across the shallow creek to reach the other bank.
2

noun
A narrow inlet of water, often saltwater, running in from the sea or up an estuary.

At high tide, small boats can sail right up the creek to the village.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a small natural stream of... brook run

More bayou beck branch burn stream

Word family

Forms creeks

Derived forms beavercreekcreekbankcreekbedcreekercreekfishcreekfrontcreeklesscreekletcreeklinecreekmouthcreeksidecreekward

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

creek bed
the ground forming the channel along which a small stream flows

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English crike, probably from Old Norse kriki, from Proto-Germanic *krikjô, variant of krekô, from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, to wind”); the modern form creek (already late Middle English creke) either reflects open-syllable lengthening of Middle English /i/ or reborrowing from Middle Dutch krēke., Compare typologically English bight, akin to bend, bow. See also Old Dutch creka, crika (“inlet, cove, creek”), Medieval Latin creca, crica, kríkr (“angle, corner, nook, bay”), Old Norse kraki (“pole with a hook, anchor”), and possibly Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”). Mode…

crike Middle English kriki Old Norse *krikjô Proto-Germanic *ger- Proto-Indo-European krēke Middle Dutch

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Nature & Landscape

External links

# creek

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /kɹik/
**IPA (UK):** /kɹiːk/
**Frequency rank:** 5711

## Meanings
1. A small natural stream of water, smaller than a river.
2. A narrow inlet of water, often saltwater, running in from the sea or up an estuary.

## Examples
- The children waded across the shallow creek to reach the other bank.
- At high tide, small boats can sail right up the creek to the village.

## Synonyms
- bayou
- beck
- branch
- brook
- burn
- stream

## Derived Forms
- beavercreek
- creekbank
- creekbed
- creeker
- creekfish
- creekfront
- creekless
- creeklet
- creekline
- creekmouth
- creekside
- creekward

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crike
- Root: kriki
- Root: *krikjô
- Root: *ger-
- Root: krēke

## Etymology
From Middle English crike, probably from Old Norse kriki, from Proto-Germanic *krikjô, variant of krekô, from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, to wind”); the modern form creek (already late Middle English creke) either reflects open-syllable lengthening of Middle English /i/ or reborrowing from Middle Dutch krēke., Compare typologically English bight, akin to bend, bow. See also Old Dutch creka, crika (“inlet, cove, creek”), Medieval Latin creca, crica, kríkr (“angle, corner, nook, bay”), Old Norse kraki (“pole with a hook, anchor”), and possibly Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”). Mode…

## AI Etymology
creek , Compare typologically English bight, akin to bend, bow. See also Old Dutch creka, crika (“inlet, cove, creek”), Medieval Latin creca, crica, kríkr (“angle, corner, nook, bay”), Old Norse kraki (“pole with a hook, anchor”), and possibly Old Norse krókr (“hook, bend, bight”). The historical chain includes Middle English crike, Old Norse kriki, Proto-Germanic *krikjô, Proto-Indo-European *ger-, Middle Dutch krēke. Current senses include A small natural stream of water, smaller than a river and A narrow inlet of water, often saltwater, running in from the sea or up an estuary. English relatives and later formations include beavercreek, creekbank, creekbed.

## Topics
- Nature & Landscape

markdown