creak

Meanings

Noun

• The sound produced by anything that creaks; a creaking.

Verb

• To make a prolonged sharp grating or squeaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances.
• To produce a creaking sound with.
• To suffer from strain or old age.

Origin

• From Middle English creken, criken, metathesis of Old English cearcian, from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną, from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂-, ultimately of imitative origin.
• Compare also Old English crǣccettan, crācettan, Albanian grykë ("throat"). More at crack.