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# creak

«creak» in Mova's school dictionary: **to make a long, high, squeaking sound, like an old door…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

verb (creak, creaks, creaked, creaking); noun (a creak, creaks)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To creak is to make a long, high, squeaking sound, like an old door, a wooden floor or stairs when they move or are walked on. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#m1)

2) A creak is that sound. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#m2)

3) To creak can mean to work badly because of being old or weak: «The old system is creaking». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, especially spooky ones, creaking doors and floorboards build suspense; it is a good onomatopoeia for creative writing. In science lessons on sound, a creak happens when two surfaces rub and vibrate. In everyday life, oiling hinges stops them creaking. Phrases: «creaky door», «creak open», «creaking floorboards».

### examples

- The old door creaked open. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x1)
- I heard a creak on the stairs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x2)
- The floorboards creaked as I tiptoed past. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x3)
- Dad oiled the gate so it would stop creaking. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x4)
- The ship's timbers creaked in the storm. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x5)
- In the dark, every creak made me jump. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x6)
- Whenever the wind blew the Birch-tree creaked. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/#x7)

### note

Regular verb. Sounds exactly like «creek» (a small stream) — a homophone trap. Adjective: creaky (a creaky door). «Creak» is a long squeak; «crack» is a sudden sharp sound.

### In the corpora

- [She whispers to her mum that the girls watched a scary film and she lay awake till three, listening to every creak.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/adult-life/56-scary-films-nightmares-and-sad-endings/5/)
- [The old gaoler's rusty key creaks, the door clangs — and Toad is a helpless prisoner.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/48-willows-ch6-part4-twenty-years-in-the-dungeon/13/)
- [Behind him, the gate creaked open" makes the whole class gasp, because we want to know what is behind the gate.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/40-openings-that-hook-the-reader/2/)
- [Houses creak as they cool down at night or when the wind blows; creaks are not ghosts.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/religion-ethics/71-scary-films-games-hospitals-and-what-helps/14/)
- [Old buildings creak, and pipes knock when water moves through them; a boring explanation is more likely than a ghost.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/world/167-the-rumour-that-grows/24/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «creak» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/creak/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.