crick
/kɹɪk/noun, verb
crick is spelled C-R-I-C-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “creek vs crick” about 1,900 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, crick means “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” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crick is cricks.
How many letters and syllables are in crick?
| Letters | 5: C-R-I-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,998th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is crick?
Crick appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,998th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crick?
- /kɹɪk/
Crick has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-crick.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with crick
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: creek.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of crick
- cricks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- cricking participle, present
- cricked participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crick mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 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
A small jackscrew.
- 3
The creaking of a door, or a noise resembling it.
- 4
Alternative form of creek.
verb
- 1
To develop a crick (cramp, spasm).
- 2
To cause to develop a crick; to create a crick in.
- 3
To twist, bend, or contort, especially in a way that produces strain.
- 4
To make a sharp, penetrating sound; chirp.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crick in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense muscular cramp or spasm:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crick come from?
From Middle English crike, crykke (“muscular spasm of the neck”), attested since the 1400s. Likely related to Old Norse kriki (“bend; nook”), whence also crick (“creek”) and creek.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).