Home North American English creek

Definition of Creek in English:

Creek

noun

  • 1A member of a confederacy of American Indian peoples of the southeastern US in the 16th to 19th centuries whose descendants now live mainly in Oklahoma.

    • ‘Joan Hill is a Creek / Cherokee painter who has received numerous recognition awards, grants, and fellowships in the art world.’
    • ‘Essays cover the Timucua, Guale, Apalachee, Chickasaw, Caddo, Natchez, Quapaw, Cherokee, Upper Creek, Lower Creek, and Seminole Indians.’
    • ‘Born to a Creek mother and Shawnee father at Old Piqua, a Shawnee village on the Mad River in Ohio, Tecumseh was raised by an older sister and grew to manhood during the border warfare of the Revolutionary Era.’
    • ‘Particularly at issue were the Cherokee, Choctaw, Creek, Chickasaw, and Seminole Indians of Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and Florida - the so-called Five Civilized Tribes.’
    • ‘And there is the tale of Jimmy Crowe, a Creek Indian from Okfuskee County, Okla., who, as a teenager, works for the Mennonites as a carpenter and subsequently becomes a preacher.’

  • 2The Muskogean language of the Creek.

    • ‘It has Slovak, Inuit, Creek, and Italian, but its all Greek to me.’

adjective

  • Relating to or denoting the Creek.

    • ‘One of the first men Seekaboo enlisted was Josiah Francis, the son of an English trader and a Creek mother.’
    • ‘In 1814, a Creek faction, the Red Sticks, rose against settlers in the South but was crushed by General Andrew Jackson at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, Alabama.’
    • ‘Red Eagle was born Bill Weatherford, son of a white trader and a Creek mother whose maiden name had been Tait.’
    • ‘After three decades the divisions between those of the traditional and new orders erupted in a Creek civil war.’
    • ‘With the help of a Creek student named James Perryman, Presbyterian minister John Fleming created a phonetic alphabet for Muskogee.’

Origin

From creek, because they lived beside the waterways of the flatlands of Georgia and Alabama.

Pronunciation:

Creek

/krēk/

Definition of creek in English:

creek

noun

North american, NZ, Australian

  • 1A stream, brook, or minor tributary of a river.

    • ‘Fireflies danced about and the creek water seemed to glow from the moon's reflection.’
    • ‘Recently I was wading down a shallow creek in what I assumed was fresh water.’
    • ‘We angled up a slope, rising away from the creek bottom.’
    • ‘Her lion tail flicked idly behind her as she walked towards the nearby creek.’
    • ‘The seven men had spread out and were riding along the dry creek bed.’
    • ‘Firefighters used a fork lift truck to rescue a stricken horse from a muddy creek.’
    • ‘They turned away from the waterfall and watched the creek flowing, listened to it.’
    • ‘They are as at home in a mossy rock pool or muddy creek as on a spectacular wreck.’
    • ‘Anya let the cool water run over her as she lay down in the shallow creek.’
    • ‘The equestrian trails are densely wooded, rocky and hilly with several small creek crossings.’
    • ‘After hours of hard training, everyone took turns taking baths in a nearby creek.’
    • ‘Damp mornings are excellent for this detail, especially in low areas such as draws and creek bottoms.’
    • ‘They rested by a small creek running through the woods that had started to become more profuse.’
    • ‘He earned his nickname playing near a muddy creek as a child.’
    • ‘There is a tiny creek meandering among the rocks, which is also believed to have healing powers.’
    • ‘The creek is flowing strong from all the runoff and spring thaw.’
    • ‘Nearby, a smaller lake was created by damming a tributary creek.’
    • ‘In the western suburbs, creeks rose rapidly and flooded houses.’
    • ‘In a few areas, rock and snow slides dammed creeks, creating small lakes.’
    • ‘She was able to drink from a nearby creek, but she had no food.’
    stream, rivulet, brook, river, tributary, backwater
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1An inlet in a shoreline, a channel in a marsh, or another narrow, sheltered waterway.
      • ‘Between the cliffs and the sea, the rhythmic movement of the tides is forming a new tidal marsh that includes mudflats, tidal creeks, tidal marshes, and tracts of shrubs.’
      • ‘My eyes scan the pewter-grey mudbanks and mudflats and a distant shoreline etched with filigrees of sinuous creeks.’
      • ‘Then during the spring months, the mesh bags are planted on creek banks during low tide.’
      • ‘In the south, coconut palms grow on a narrow coastal strip broken by lagoons and creeks.’
      • ‘Mudflats lie lower in the upper intertidal zone than marshes and are smooth, almost level surfaces across which tidal creeks meander.’
      • ‘Marcus tells Frank to pack his bags because they are heading to Twin Creeks.’
      • ‘Endless creeks and sounds divide the land up into a series of broad, semi-connected sandbars and islands, and the road loops along with bridge after bridge over wide, shallow waterways.’
      • ‘Walnut Creek is where he was picked up.’
      • ‘Living among creeks, lagoons, and salt marshes makes fishing and the salt trade part of everyday life in the area.’
      • ‘Coastal migrants can often be found along tidal creeks, salt marsh edges, and mudflats, rarely on sandy ocean beaches.’
      • ‘Terrapins have been observed in several of the marsh creeks, but not in all of the creeks where searches were completed.’
      • ‘To reach the village the soldiers had to cross a small tidal creek running gently into the ocean.’
      • ‘A serpentine array of tidal creeks lined with tall-form Spartina occur throughout the marsh.’
      • ‘Corsica rises like a mountain from the sea, creating a coast of steep cliffs and countless creeks, interspersed with tiny deserted beaches, and washed by crystal-clear water.’
      • ‘Extensive oyster reefs blanketed the mudflats along the state's tidal creeks and fueled the thriving industry.’
      • ‘At the tidal swamps, the shore is a low, narrow levee separating the waters of the creeks from the backwaters of the swamps.’
      • ‘These were used for storing shellfish after they had been collected from nearby saltmarsh creeks and before they were taken to markets.’
      • ‘Pristine beaches, maritime forests, shimmering marshes, and tidal creeks await your exploration.’
      • ‘Shouts of protest ensue when students realize they have to ford a creek to get to the beach.’

Origin

Middle English: from Old French crique or from Old Norse kriki nook; perhaps reinforced by Middle Dutch krēke; of unknown ultimate origin.

Pronunciation:

creek

/krēk/