Creek or crick?
creek is a noun meaning “A small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a…”; crick is a noun meaning “A painful stiffness in some part of the body, like the neck or back, which…”. In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) creek is about 37 times as common as crick.
What is the difference between creek and crick?
| creek | crick | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, adjective | noun, verb |
| Meaning | UKA small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary UKThe inner part of a port that is used as a dock for small boats One of a Native American tribe from the Southeastern United States, also known as the Muscogee | A painful stiffness in some part of the body, like the neck or back, which makes it difficult to move the affected body part for some time; a cramp A small jackscrew To develop a crick (cramp, spasm) |
| Example | The chieftain was well versed in Creek history | none recorded |
| Forms | creeks | cricks |
| Pronunciation | /ˈkɹiːk/ [kʰɹʷɪi̯k] /ˈkɹɪk/ | /kɹɪk/ |
| In writing | 23 times per million words | about once in every 2 million words |
Sources: creek and crick in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of creek and crick
creek
- 1
UKA small inlet, often saltwater, leading to the sea or to the main channel of a river, especially a river estuary
- 2
One of a Native American tribe from the Southeastern United States, also known as the Muscogee
- 3
Of or pertaining to the Creek tribe
The chieftain was well versed in Creek history
- 4
UKThe inner part of a port that is used as a dock for small boats
- 5
AustraliaCanadaUSA stream of water, typically a stream of freshwater smaller than a river; in Australia, also used of river-sized bodies of water
- 6
Any turn or winding
crick
- 1
A painful stiffness in some part of the body, like the neck or back, which makes it difficult to move the affected body part for some time; a cramp
- 2
To develop a crick (cramp, spasm)
- 3
Alternative form of creek
- 4
To make a sharp, penetrating sound; chirp
- 5
The creaking of a door, or a noise resembling it
- 6
A small jackscrew
- 7
To cause to develop a crick; to create a crick in
- 8
To twist, bend, or contort, especially in a way that produces strain
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, creek or crick?
creek appears 23 times per million words; crick about once in every 2 million words.
creek 23 times per million wordscrick about once in every 2 million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search creek vs crick?
“creek vs crick” is searched about 1,900 times a month on Google and 20 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“crick vs creek”, “creek or crick”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.