creek

1 of 2

noun (1)

ˈkrēk  ˈkrik 

1

: a natural stream of water normally smaller than and often tributary to a river

2

chiefly British : a small inlet or bay narrower and extending farther inland than a cove

3

archaic : a narrow or winding passage

Creek

2 of 2

noun (2)

ˈkrēk 

1

plural Creek or Creeks : a member of any of a group of Indigenous American peoples that formed a confederacy in Georgia and eastern Alabama in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries and that were forcibly removed to Indian Territory in 1836 to 1840

2

a

plural Creek or Creeks : a member of the people who comprised the nucleus of the Creek confederacy : muscogee sense 1

b

: the Muskogean language of this people : muscogee sense 2

Note: Creek is the name by which the Muscogee people were known to English settlers prior to their forcible removal to Indian Territory. Present-day members of this nation live under the name Muscogee (Creek) Nation.

Phrases

up the creek

: in a difficult or perplexing situation

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• beck [British]
• bourn
• bourne
• brook
• brooklet
• burn [British]
• gill [British]
• rill
• rivulet
• run [chiefly Midland]
• runlet
• runnel
• streamlet

Examples of creek in a Sentence

Noun (1)

The children waded in the creek.

The coast is dotted with tiny creeks.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Recipes came from a tiny creek in the Appalachians and the rice terraces of Yunnan. —Betty Hallock, Los Angeles Times, 2 Dec. 2024

The nurses also provided some basic medical education, making sure that everyone in the area, long accustomed to being able to drink from their local creek, knew that the water was now contaminated because of the flooding. —Jess Craig, Vox, 17 Nov. 2024

Dive team members for the Houston police department then searched beneath the surface of the muddy creek. —Ayana Bryant, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2024

Ike Walker, whose business and pleasure in life is the manufacture of fishing lures, was somewhere south of us on the creek fishing with Grady Blanton and Milton Pace. —Charles Elliott, Outdoor Life, 27 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English crike, creke, from Old Norse -kriki bend

First Known Use

Noun (1)

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Noun (2)

1725, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

creek

1 of 2 noun

ˈkrēk  ˈkrik 

1

chiefly British : a small narrow inlet or bay

2

: a stream of water usually smaller than a river

Creek

2 of 2 noun

ˈkrēk 

: a member of an Indigenous people originally of Alabama, Georgia, and Florida

also : their language