croak

See also: Croak

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

• (General American) enPR: krōk, IPA^(key): /kɹoʊk/
• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: krōk, IPA^(key): /kɹəʊk/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊk

Noun

croak (plural croaks)

1. A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.
2. The call of a frog or toad.

   Synonym: ribbit

3. The harsh call of various birds, such as the raven or corncrake, or other creatures.

Derived terms

• croakless
• croaky

Translations

a faint, harsh sound made in the throat

Chinese: Mandarin: 沙哑的声音 (zh) (shayádeshēngyīn) Greek: κρωγμός (el) m (krogmós) Hebrew: חרחור m (khirkhúr) Hungarian: krákogás (hu) Norwegian: Bokmål: hark n Russian: хрип (ru) m (xrip) (wheeze)

the sound of a frog or toad

Arabic: نَقِيق (ar) m (naqīq) Assamese: টুৰ টুৰ (tur tur) Azerbaijani: vaqqıltı, qurultu Bulgarian: ква́кане n (kvákane) Catalan: rauc (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: 呱呱 (zh) (guāguā) Czech: kvákání impf Danish: kvæk n Dutch: kwak (nl), gekwaak (nl) n Esperanto: kvako Estonian: krooks French: coassement (fr) m Georgian: ყიყინი (q̇iq̇ini) German: Quaken n Greek: κουάξ (kouáx), κόασμα (el) n (kóasma) Hebrew: קרקור m (kirkúr) Hungarian: brekegés (hu), vartyogás (hu), kuruttyolás (hu) Irish: grág f Italian: gracidio (it) m Japanese: ケロケロ (kero kero) Korean: 개굴개굴 (ko) (gaegulgaegul) Maori: ōkaka Polish: rechot (pl) m Portuguese: coaxada f, coaxo (pt) m Russian: ква́канье (ru) n (kvákanʹje) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: кре̏ке̄т m Latin: krȅkēt (sh) m Spanish: croac (es) m Swedish: kväk m Tagalog: kokak Turkish: vıraklama Ukrainian: ква́кання f (kvákannja)

the harsh sound of various birds, particularly the raven or crow — see caw

Verb

croak (third-person singular simple present croaks, present participle croaking, simple past and past participle croaked)

1. (intransitive) To make a croak sound.
2. (transitive) To utter in a low, hoarse voice.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene v]:

     The raven himself is hoarse, / That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan.

3. (intransitive, of a frog, toad, raven, or various other birds or animals) To make its vocal sound.
4. (slang) To die.
5. (transitive, slang) To kill someone or something.

   He'd seen my face, so I had to croak him.

   • 1920 June, The Electrical Experimenter, New York, page 216, column 2:

     "It was me. And I'm glad, damned glad, I didn't croak him. With this slick guy after me, it would be me for the chair."

   • 1925, G. K. Chesterton, The Arrow of Heaven (first published in Nash's Pall Mall Magazine, Jul 1925)

     If Wilton croaked the criminal he did a jolly good day's work, and there's an end of it.

6. To complain; especially, to grumble; to forebode evil; to utter complaints or forebodings habitually.
   • 1837, Thomas Carlyle, The French Revolution: A History […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: Chapman and Hall, →OCLC, (please specify the book or page number):

     Marat […] croaks with such reasonableness.

7. (programming slang, Perl) To abort the current program indicating a user or caller error.
   • 2002, Nathan Patwardhan, Ellen Siever, Stephen Spainhour, Perl, O'Reilly, →ISBN, page 200:

     The accessor croaks if it's not an appropriate object reference.

Derived terms

• croaker
• croaking gourami
• croakingly

Translations

to make a croak

Bulgarian: крякам (bg) (krjakam) Catalan: raucar (ca) Danish: skrige Dutch: rochelen (nl) Finnish: korahtaa, korahdella (fi) French: coasser (fr), croasser (fr) German: krächzen (de) Greek: κράζω (el) (krázo) Hungarian: krákog (hu) Latin: crōciō Macedonian: крека (kreka) Norwegian: Bokmål: harke Portuguese: grasnir, grasnar (pt) Russian: хрипе́ть (ru) (xripétʹ) (to wheeze)

of a frog, to make its sound

Arabic: نَقَّ (naqqa) Assamese: টুৰ টুৰা (tur tura) Azerbaijani: quruldamaq, vaqqıldamaq Breton: koagal (br) Bulgarian: ква́кам (bg) impf (kvákam) Catalan: raucar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 呱呱 (zh) (guāguā) Czech: kvákat (cs) impf Danish: kvække Dutch: kwaken (nl) Esperanto: kvaki Estonian: krooksuma Finnish: kurnuttaa (fi) French: coasser (fr) Galician: croar (gl) Georgian: ყიყინებს (q̇iq̇inebs) German: quaken (de) Greek: κοάζω (el) (koázo) Hebrew: קִרְקֵר (he) (qirqér) Hungarian: brekeg (hu), vartyog (hu), kuruttyol (hu) Indonesian: menguak (id) Ingrian: krookkaa Italian: gracidare (it) Japanese: ゲロゲロ鳴く (gerogero naku) Khiamniungan Naga: tāktāk Latin: coaxō, quaxō Maori: ōkaka Polish: rechotać (pl) impf, kumkać impf Portuguese: coaxar (pt) Russian: ква́кать (ru) impf (kvákatʹ) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: крекѐтати impf, крекѐтнути pf Latin: krekètati (sh) impf, krekètnuti (sh) pf Slovak: kvákať impf Spanish: croar (es), groar (es) Swedish: kväka (sv) Tagalog: kumokak Turkish: vıraklamak Ukrainian: ква́кати impf (kvákaty)

slang: to die

Azerbaijani: qəbərmək, gorbagor olmaq, çezmək Bulgarian: умирам (bg) (umiram) Chinese: Mandarin: 嗝屁 (zh) (gěpì, gěrpì) Dutch: de pijp uit gaan, sneven (nl) Estonian: kärvama French: crever (fr), clamser (fr) German: krepieren (de), abkratzen (de) Italian: crepare (it) Japanese: くたばる (ja) (kutabaru) Korean: 뒤지다 (ko) (dwijida), 뒈지다 (ko) (dwejida), 골로 가다 (gollo gada) Norwegian: Bokmål: krepere Russian: сдыха́ть (ru) impf (sdyxátʹ), сдо́хнуть (ru) pf (sdóxnutʹ) Spanish: (colloquial) palmar (es), (colloquial) palmarla, (colloquial) espicharla Ukrainian: ґи́ґнути pf (gýgnuty), здиха́ти impf (zdyxáty), здо́хнути pf (zdóxnuty), подиха́ти impf (podyxáty), подо́хнути pf (podóxnuty)

of a raven, to make its sound — see caw

slang: to kill

Bulgarian: убивам (bg) (ubivam) Catalan: matar (ca) French: crever (fr), buter (fr) Old French: morir (transitive; takes avoir as auxiliary) Italian: terminare (it) Polish: zabić (pl) Portuguese: matar (pt) Russian: замочи́ть (ru) pf (zamočítʹ), ко́кнуть (ru) pf (kóknutʹ), завали́ть (ru) pf (zavalítʹ) Spanish: matar (es)