different between squeal vs creak

English

Etymology

18th c. (noun), Middle English (verb); of imitative origin.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /skwi?l/?
• (US) IPA^(key): /skwil/
• Rhymes: -i?l

Noun

squeal (plural squeals)

1. A high-pitched sound, such as the scream of a child, or noisy worn-down brake pads.
2. The cry of a pig.

Translations

Verb

squeal (third-person singular simple present squeals, present participle squealing, simple past and past participle squealed)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To scream with a shrill, prolonged sound.
2. (intransitive, slang) To give sensitive information about someone to a third party; to rat on someone.

Synonyms

• (to rat on someone): inform, grass up, snitch; See also Thesaurus:rat out

Derived terms

• squealer

Translations

Anagrams

• Quales, equals, queals, quesal

English

Alternative forms

• crik (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English creken, criken, metathesis of Old English cearcian (“to chatter, creak, crash, gnash”), from Proto-West Germanic *krak?n (“to crash, crack, creak”), related to Proto-Germanic *krak?n?, ultimately of imitative origin.

Compare also Old English cr?ccettan, cr?cettan (“to croak”), Albanian grykë (“throat”). More at crack.

Pronunciation

• enPR: kr?k, IPA^(key): /k?i?k/
• Homophone: creek
• Rhymes: -i?k

Noun

creak (plural creaks)

1. The sound produced by anything that creaks; a creaking.

Translations

Verb

creak (third-person singular simple present creaks, present participle creaking, simple past and past participle creaked)

1. (intransitive) To make a prolonged sharp grating or squeaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances.
   • 1856, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert (author), Madame Bovary, Part III, Chapter 10:

     Then when the four ropes were arranged the coffin was placed upon them. He watched it descend; it seemed descending for ever. At last a thud was heard; the ropes creaked as they were drawn up.

   • 1901, W. W. Jacobs, The Monkey's Paw:

     He heard the creaking of the bolt as it came slowly back, and at the same moment he found the monkey's paw, and frantically breathed his third and last wish.

2. (transitive) To produce a creaking sound with.
   • a. 1941, Theodore Roethke, "On the Road to Woodlawn", in Open House (1941)

     I miss the polished brass, the powerful black horses,

     The drivers creaking the seats of the baroque hearses

3. (intransitive, figuratively) To suffer from strain or old age.
   • 2002, Stanley Wells, Shakespeare Survey (volume 39, page 205)

     Fascinating though this high-minded re-reading was, certain crucial joints of the play creaked a good deal under the strain.

   • 2007, Francis Pryor, Britain in the Middle Ages: An Archaeological History (page 232)

     The whole basis of feudalism, especially in the more intensively farmed champion arable landscapes of the Midlands, was starting to creak.

Derived terms

• creaky

Translations

References

Anagrams

• Acker, Crake, Kacer, acker, crake