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 crǣcettung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk- (compare Swedish kråka, German krächzen), from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g- (compare Sanskrit गर्जति (garjati, “to growl”); also compare Latin grāculus (“jackdaw”), Serbo-Croatian grákati from *greh₂-k-), of onomatopoeic origin.

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)

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

Derived terms

Translations

a faint, harsh sound made in the throat

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)
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)

(intransitive) To make a croak.
(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.
(intransitive, of a frog, toad, raven, or various other birds or animals) To make its sound.
(slang) To die.
(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.
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.
(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

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)