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CREAKING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A squeaking sound
Example:
the creak of the floorboards gave him away
Synonyms:
creak; creaking
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("creaking" is a kind of...):
noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))
Derivation:
creak (make a high-pitched, screeching noise)
II. (verb)
Sense 1
-ing form of the verb creak
Context examples:
The stench of bad beef was in his nostrils, while in his ears, to the accompaniment of creaking timbers and groaning bulkheads, echoed the loud mouth-noises of the eaters.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
The very next train roared from the tunnel as before, but slowed in the open, and then, with a creaking of brakes, pulled up immediately beneath us.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The booms were tearing at the blocks, the rudder was banging to and fro, and the whole ship creaking, groaning, and jumping like a manufactory.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
As he walked up and down that part of the courtyard which was at the side of the house, with the stray rooks and jackdaws looking after him with their heads cocked slyly, as if they knew how much more knowing they were in worldly affairs than he, if any sort of vagabond could only get near enough to his creaking shoes to attract his attention to one sentence of a tale of distress, that vagabond was made for the next two days.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Faster and faster yet they raced, the hoofs rattling like castanets, the yellow manes flying, the wheels buzzing, and every joint and rivet creaking and groaning, while the curricle swung and swayed until I found myself clutching to the side-rail.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
At last however about two in the morning, I suddenly heard the gentle sound of a bolt being pushed back and the creaking of a key.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
There is the creaking of a chain, and the loud tinkle as the check of the capstan falls into the rachet.
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
As it was, he dropped upon his feet and kept his balance, though it sent a jar through his frame which set every joint a-creaking.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
And what little there was,—the slapping of a few reef-points and the creaking of a sheave in a block or two,—was ghostly under the hollow echoing pall in which we were swathed.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Then, thinking that I was still asleep, she slipped noiselessly from the room, and an instant later I heard a sharp creaking which could only come from the hinges of the front door.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
