/ kriːk; NAmE / verb , noun
■ verb
to make the sound that a door sometimes makes when you open it or that a wooden floor sometimes makes when you step on it :
[ v ]
She heard a floorboard creak upstairs.
a creaking bed / gate / stair
The table creaked and groaned under the weight.
[ v - adj ]
The door creaked open.
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IDIOMS
- creak under the strain
■ noun
[ C ] (also creak·ing [ U , C ]) a sound, for example that sometimes made by a door when it opens or shuts, or by a wooden floor when you step on it :
the creak / creaking of the door
Distant creaks and groans echoed eerily along the dark corridors.
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (as a verb in the sense croak ): imitative.