creek

Meaning

Noun

• A small inlet or bay, often saltwater, narrower and extending farther into the land than a cove; a recess in the shore of the sea, or of a river; the inner part of a port that is used as a dock for small boats.
• A stream of water (often freshwater) smaller than a river and larger than a brook; in Australia, also used of river-sized waterbodies.
• Any turn or winding.

Related

Similar words

• beck, brook#Etymology_2, burn#Etymology_2, stream
• run#Noun , brook , branch , bayou

Origin

• From Middle English creke, from Old Norse kriki. Early British colonists of Australia and the Americas used the term in the usual British way, to name inlets; as settlements followed the inlets upstream and inland, the names were retained and creek was reinterpreted as a general term for a small waterway.. Compare Dutch kreek, and French crique, both from the same source.