croak
/krəʊk
/noun
1A characteristic deep hoarse sound made by a frog or a crow: a female frog can pick out a mate’s voice from a cacophony of croaks...
- The track ends with a nighttime snippet of what sounds like a frog pond - croaks, chirps, waterlogged crickets.
- She finally reached a point where she could hear the voices over the sounds of the crickets and the croaks of frogs.
- In some places it is primeval and wet, where streaky barked eucalyptus strive upwards through dripping mists alive with frog croaks.
Synonyms
rasp, wheeze, gasp, bark, hack, cough;
caw, squawk, cackle, clack, cluck
1.1A sound resembling a croak: Lorton tried to laugh—it came out as a croak...
- A second croak tore like a whip-lash through the silent forest.
- His voice gave out on the final syllable, his distressed croak fading abruptly into an almost inaudible squeak.
- When the voice spoke, it was a hoarse croak, thunderous and deep.
verb [no object]
1(Of a frog or crow) make a characteristic deep hoarse sound: the frogs settled in the shade, croaking happily...
- On Brookfair, the nights were so clear and silent that you could hear the crickets chirping and every frog and toad croaking for their mates and you could hear cranes whooping and ducks going to sleep.
- Frogs and toads croak out a strange mating ritual in a concrete drainage ditch.
- She produced a gorgeous tone on the lowest strings of her viola, in that dangerous zone on the modern instrument in which the viola can sound like a frog croaking.
1.1(Of a person) make a sound similar to a croak when speaking or laughing: [with direct speech]: ‘Thank you,’ I croaked...
- ‘I've got a cold, I feel terrible,’ he reluctantly croaked.
- Office etiquette nevertheless dictates that you must still croak down the phone when you ring in sick.
- ‘Yeah,’ Michael croaked, finding his voice at last, ‘I'm Michael.’
Synonyms
rasp, squawk, caw, crow, wheeze, gasp, choke, hack, hawk, bark, cough;
speak hoarsely, speak huskily, speak throatily, speak harshly, speak thickly
1.2 archaic Prophesy evil or misfortune, especially unjustifiably and to the irritation of others: without croaking, it may be observed that our government is upon a dangerous experiment
2 informal Die: the dog finally croaked in 1987...
- There are few obituaries more heartfelt than the one HST wrote for Rolling Stone when Nixon finally croaked.
- It took 'em 10 years to finally croak.
- Whats more, one of my own favorite kitty cats, beloved and doted on as only a favorite kitty cat can be, recently croaked… I mean passed beyond!
2.1 [with object] Kill (someone): there are a few people down there who’d like to croak him...
- I'll make sure the people who are won't get croaked and that's about it.
Origin
Middle English (as a verb): imitative.