creek
(krēk, krĭk)
[Middle English creke, probably from Old Norse kriki, bend.]
noun
- A small stream, often a shallow or intermittent tributary to a river. Also called Also called regionally branch, brook1, kill2, run
- A channel or stream running through a salt marsh: tidal creeks teeming with shore wildlife.
- Chiefly British A small inlet in a shoreline, extending farther inland than a cove.
idioms
- up the creek (without a paddle)
- In a difficult, unfortunate, or inextricable position.
Creek
(krēk)
[From the picturesque creeks near which they lived.]
noun: pl., Creek or Creeks
- A Native American people formerly inhabiting eastern Alabama, southwest Georgia, and northwest Florida and now located in central Oklahoma and southern Alabama. The Creek were removed to Indian Territory in the 1830s.
- A member of this people.
- The Muskogean language of the Creek.
- A Native American confederacy made up of the Creek and various smaller southeast tribes.
- A member of this confederacy.
