creek

plural creeks · alternative Canada US dialectal crick · alternative UK dialectal obsolete crike · alternative UK dialectal obsolete cryke · alternative pronunciation spelling crik

1. UKA small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary.

   There is a tide in the affairs of men, / Which, taken any way you please, is bad, / And strands them in forsaken guts and creeks / No decent soul would think of visiting.

   1887 March 21, Rudyard Kipling, “Kidnapped”, in Plain Tales from the Hills, Calcutta: Thacker, Spink and Co.; London: W. Thacker & Co., published 1888, →OCLC, page 111

   1 more example

   Seven miles to the north of Venice, the banks of sand, which near the city rise little above low-water mark, attain by degrees a higher level, and knit themselves at last into fields of salt morass, raised here and there into shapeless mounds, and intercepted by narrow creeks of sea.

   1853, John Ruskin, “Torcello”, in The Stones of Venice, volume II (The Sea-Stories), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, § I, page 11

2. UKThe inner part of a port that is used as a dock for small boats.
3. AustraliaCanadaNew ZealandUSA stream of water, typically a stream of freshwater smaller than a river; in Australia, also used of river-sized bodies of water.

   We all feel it Looming, even when we're awake, out there ahead someplace, the way you come to feel a River or Creek ahead, before anything else,— sound, sky, vegetation,— may have announced it.

   1997, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 67, in Mason & Dixon, 1st US edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part Two: America, page 650

   Synonyms: run

4. Any turn or winding.

plural Creeks

1. One of a Native American tribe from the Southeastern United States, also known as the Muscogee.

   Revis, who moved to Macon two-and-a half years ago to work on the park effort, noted that after the Muscogee (Creek) were removed to Oklahoma, the site became a slave plantation.

   2024 June 23, Marnie Hunter, “How the Southern city of Macon went from ‘ghost town’ to ‘popping’ destination”, in CNN, archived from the original on 10 Aug 2024

1. The Muskogean language of the Creek tribe.
2. A surname.

1. not comparableOf or pertaining to the Creek tribe.

   The chieftain was well versed in Creek history.

1. slanglifestyleThe ship of characters Craig Tucker and Tweek Tweak from the South Park series.First known use 2005

   This [“Tweek vs. Craig”] is a regular season 3 outing that aired in June 1999, and I picked it not merely because I'm a hardcore Creek shipper.

   2025 September 20, Michael Boyle, “5 Essential South Park Episodes Everyone Should Watch At Least Once”, in /Film, Fishers, Ind.: Static Media, archived from the original on 20 Sep 2025

   2 more examples

   For at least a decade, people on the internet have been drawing fan art of the love between this two characters (a ship known as "Creek"). A cursory search of DeviantArt shows Creek art dating back to 2005. And when Trey Parker and Matt Stone decided it was finally time to acknowledge Creek and their surprisingly robust online fandom, they went straight to the source, soliciting real drawings from users online.

   2015 November 2, Brian Feldman, “How Gay-Themed South Park Fan Art Wound Up on the Show”, in Vulture, New York, N.Y.: Vox Media, →OCLC, archived from the original on 04 Nov 2015

   The episode’s humor and heart speak to viewers bemused at the concept of yaoi and devoted “Creek” shippers alike, but it isn’t the child characters learning something by the show’s conclusion. Instead, it’s a father who learns a lesson about being a better parent to his son.

   2016 February 9, Paige Sammartino, “Tweek X Craig: A Message to Parents of LGBTQ Kids”, in Megan Purdy, editor, WomenWriteAboutComics, archived from the original on 26 Jul 2020