| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
| |
| creek |
| |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  kr k, kr k |
| NOUN: | 1. A small stream, often a shallow or intermittent tributary to a river. Also called Regional brook1, Regional kill2, Regional run. 2. A channel or stream running through a salt marsh: tidal creeks teeming with shore wildlife. 3. Chiefly British A small inlet in a shoreline, extending farther inland than a cove. Also called regionally Regional branch. | | IDIOM: | up the creek (without a paddle) Informal In a difficult, unfortunate, or inextricable position. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English creke, probably from Old Norse kriki, bend.
| | |
| |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
|
|
