creek
creek (krēk, krik)
noun
- Now Chiefly Brit. a narrow inlet or bay
- ☆ a small stream, somewhat larger than a brook
- Obsolete a narrow or winding passage
Etymology: 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
up the creek
☆Creek (krēk, krik)
noun
- pl. Creeks or Creek a member of a cultural and political grouping (the Creek Confederacy) of North American Indian peoples, mainly Muskogean, formerly of Georgia and Alabama, now living in Oklahoma and Florida
- the Muskogean language used as a lingua franca in the Creek Confederacy; Muskogee
Etymology: shortened < earlier Ochese Creek Indians, 17th-c. name for the Indians of the upper Ocmulgee River, Georgia
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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