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Added 9 October 2026

croak

/kɹoʊk/ noun

In Latin: crōciō Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about croak at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.
The call of a frog or toad.
The harsh call of various birds, such as the raven or corncrake, or other creatures.

verb

To make a croak sound.
To utter in a low, hoarse voice.
To make its vocal sound.

Origin

From Middle English *croken, crouken, (also represented by craken > crake), back-formation from Old English crācettan (“to croak”) (also in derivative crǣcetung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk-, from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-, from *greh₂-k-, of onomatopoeic origin. See also Swedish kråka, German krächzen, Sanskrit गर्जति (garjati, “to growl”); also compare Latin grāculus (“jackdaw”), Serbo-Croatian grákati. More at crack, crake and craic.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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