crake

Meanings

Noun

• Any of several birds of the family Rallidae that have short bills.
• A crack; a boast.

Verb

• To cry out harshly and loudly, like a crake.
• To boast; to speak loudly and boastfully.

Origin

• From Middle English crak, crake, from Old Norse kráka, from Proto-Germanic *krak-, *kra-, from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂-, itself onomatopoeic.
• From Middle English craken, from Old English cracian, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną. Cognate with Saterland Frisian kroakje, West Frisian kreakje, Dutch kraken, Low German kraken, French craquer (< Germanic), German krachen.