creaks

1. 1
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of creak.

   The gate creaks loudly on its rusty hinges when the wind picks up.

   The floorboard creaks underfoot in the same spot every morning.

   Note

   The verb behind this form does more than name a noise. A hinge or floorboard creaks on its own, but the verb can also be transitive, meaning to make something creak. Figuratively it describes whatever is straining or showing its age, so a plan or an old institution can creak as well as a stair. In every one of these uses, the -s form needs a singular third-person subject.

2. 2
   noun

   Plural of creak.

   A series of creaks announced that someone was coming up the old stairs.

   The ferry answered every wave with groans and creaks from its aging deck.

   Note

   The noun counts sounds one by one, which is why it takes a plural at all: a series of creaks, groans and creaks. The same spelling serves the present-tense verb. A determiner or number in front (the creaks, several creaks) marks the noun, and a subject in front (the door creaks) marks the verb. When the sound is continuous rather than counted, a creaking does the noun's job.

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