creek Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a natural stream of water smaller than a river (and often a tributary of a river)
    brook.
    • the creek dried up every summer
  2. noun any member of the Creek Confederacy (especially the Muskogee) formerly living in Georgia and Alabama but now chiefly in Oklahoma

WordNet

Creek noun
Etymology
AS. crecca; akin to D. kreek, Icel. kriki crack, nook; cf. W. crig crack, crigyll ravine, creek. Cf. Crick, Crook.
Definitions
  1. A small inlet or bay, narrower and extending further into the land than a cove; a recess in the shore of the sea, or of a river.
    Each creek and cavern of the dangerous shore. Cowper.
    They discovered a certain creek, with a shore. Acts xxvii. 39.
  2. A stream of water smaller than a river and larger than a brook.
    Lesser streams and rivulets are denominated creeks. Goldsmith.
  3. Any turn or winding.
    The passages of alleys, creeks, and narrow lands. Shak.

Webster 1913