creak
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Alternative forms
Etymology
From Middle English creken, criken, metathesis of Old English cearcian (“to chatter, creak, crash, gnash”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn (“to crash, crack, creak”), from Proto-Germanic *krakōną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to make a sound, cry hoarsely”), ultimately of imitative origin.[1]
Compare also Old English crǣccettan, crācettan (“to croak”), Albanian grykë (“throat”). More at crack.
Pronunciation
Noun
creak (plural creaks)
- The sound produced by anything that creaks; a creaking.
Derived terms
Translations
the sound produced by anything that creaks; a creaking
|
Verb
creak (third-person singular simple present creaks, present participle creaking, simple past and past participle creaked)
- (intransitive) To make a prolonged sharp grating or squeaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances.
- 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert (author), Madame Bovary, Part III, Chapter 10:
- Then when the four ropes were arranged the coffin was placed upon them. He watched it descend; it seemed descending for ever. At last a thud was heard; the ropes creaked as they were drawn up.
- 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw:
- He heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back, and at the same moment he found the monkey's paw, and frantically breathed his third and last wish.
- 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert (author), Madame Bovary, Part III, Chapter 10:
- (transitive) To produce a creaking sound with.
- c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i]:
- Creaking my shoes on the plain masonry.
- 1941, Theodore Roethke, “On the Road to Woodlawn”, in Open House; republished in The Collected Poems of Theodore Roethke, 1975, →ISBN, page 21:
- I miss the polished brass, the powerful black horses,
The drivers creaking the seats of the baroque hearses, […]
- (intransitive, figurative) To suffer from strain or old age.
- 2002, Stanley Wells, Shakespeare Survey, volume 39, page 205:
- Fascinating though this high-minded re-reading was, certain crucial joints of the play creaked a good deal under the strain.
- 2007, Francis Pryor, Britain in the Middle Ages: An Archaeological History, page 232:
- The whole basis of feudalism, especially in the more intensively farmed champion arable landscapes of the Midlands, was starting to creak.
Derived terms
Translations
to make a prolonged sharp grating or squeaking sound
|
to produce a creaking sound with
|
References
- Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
Anagrams
Wikiwand in your browser!
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.
Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.
