A creek is a narrow place where the sea comes a long way into the land.
[British]
2. countable noun [oft in names]
A creek is a small stream or river.
[US]
Follow Austin Creek for a few miles.
Synonyms: stream, brook, tributary, bayou More Synonyms of creek
3.
See up the creek
More Synonyms of creek
creek in British English
(kriːk)
noun
1. mainly British
a narrow inlet or bay, esp of the sea
2. US, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand
a small stream or tributary
3. up the creek
Word origin
C13: from Old Norse kriki nook; related to Middle Dutch krēke creek, inlet
Creek in British English
(kriːk)
noun
1. Word forms: pluralCreek or Creeks
a member of a confederacy of Native American peoples formerly living in Georgia and Alabama, now chiefly in Oklahoma
2.
any of the languages of these peoples, belonging to the Muskhogean family
creek in American English
(krik; krɪk)
noun
1. Chiefly British
a narrow inlet or bay
2. US
a small stream, somewhat larger than a brook
3. Obsolete
a narrow or winding passage
Idioms:
up the creek
Word origin
ME (rare) creke (> mod. pronun. krēk), (common) crike (> pronun. krik) > ON kriki, a bend, winding, hence winding inlet, akin to OFris kreke, MDu creke: for IE base see cradle
Creek in American English
(krik)
nounWord forms: pluralCreeks or esp collectively Creek
1.
a member of a confederacy of Native American tribes 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 tribes
More idioms containing
creek
up the creek
Examples of 'creek' in a sentence
creek
They are not so much cast adrift as up a certain creek without a paddle.
The Sun (2006)
They were led out of the compound and down a pathway to a small creek.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Up the creek without a paddle?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
He won't be left up the creek without a paddle.
The Sun (2015)
After all, he often seems to be up a creek without a paddle.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
I got myself up a creek without a paddle.
The Sun (2009)
It spreads discreetly along a wide smear of perfect sand and endless banks of river, creek and lake.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The boat slows and we turn off into a narrow creek where the light is ghostly, all shadows and silhouettes.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
It's just a small creek.
The Sun (2007)
I find myself within driving distance of a narrow creek that reaches a mile or so inland off a wide shallow bay.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
The Reading manager and his players looked up the creek without a paddle as they trailed 3-2 in injury time.
The Sun (2012)
At the bottom of a narrow creek you must imagine "a low, snug dwelling, and in good repair".
Those who were relying on their savings to survive during retirement were the ones'who are really up the creek without a paddle '.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Word lists with
creek
North American Languages, Native American tribes
All related terms of 'creek'
shit creek
→ to be up shit creek
Barcoo Creek
a river in E central Australia , in SW Queensland : joins with the Thomson River to form Cooper Creek
Cooper Creek
an intermittent river in E central Australia, in the Channel Country: rises in central Queensland and flows generally southwest , reaching Lake Eyre only during wet-year floods ; scene of the death of the explorers Burke and Wills in 1861; the surrounding basin provides cattle pastures after the floods subside . Total length: 1420 km (880 miles)
Cripple Creek
a village in central Colorado : gold-mining centre since 1891, once the richest in the world
Dawson Creek
a town in W Canada , in NE British Columbia : SE terminus of the Alaska Highway . Pop: 10 754 (2001)
Walnut Creek
city in W Calif., near Oakland: pop. 64,000
up the creek
If someone is up the creek , they are in a bad or difficult situation, or are wrong in some way. You can also say that someone is up the creek without a paddle .
to be up shit creek
to be in an extremely bad situation
Chinese translation of 'creek'
creek
(kriːk)
n(c)
(Brit, = inlet) 小海湾(灣) (xiǎo hǎiwān) (个(個), gè)
(US, = stream) 小溪 (xiǎoxī) (条(條), tiáo)
to be up the creek (without a paddle) (inf) 处(處)于(於)困境 (chǔ yú kùnjìng)
Nearby words of
creek
credit
credit card
credit crunch
creek
creep
creepy
cremate
Related terms of
creek
to be up the creek (without a paddle)
1 (noun)
Definition
a narrow inlet or bay
The offshore fishermen took shelter from the storm in a creek.