croak
noun · verb
Simple meaning
The call of a frog or toad.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
krohkIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkɹoʊk
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The call of a frog or toad.
The harsh call of various birds, such as the raven or corncrake, or other creatures.
A harsh hoarse utterance (as of a frog)
A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.
verb
(intransitive, of a frog, toad, raven, or various other birds or animals) To make its vocal sound.
Utter a hoarse sound, like a raven
transitive
To utter in a low, hoarse voice.
To complain; especially, to grumble; to forebode evil; to utter complaints or forebodings habitually.
transitiveslang
To kill.
intransitive
To make a croak sound.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient (estimated)
- Frequency
- Rare
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The call of a frog or toad.
Used this way, croak is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A silvery-bodied croaker with dark markings and tiny barbels.
Silvery and bluish drumfish of shallow California coastal waters.
A fish of the Pacific coast of North America.
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What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.