creek

1 a natural body of running water smaller than a river the shallow creek that runs in back of our house Synonyms beck [British], bourn (or bourne), brook, brooklet, burn [British], gill [British], rill, rivulet, run [chiefly Midland], runlet, runnel, streamlet Related Words arroyo, billabong [Australian], fresh, freshet, runoff; bayou, coulee, slough (also slew or slue), stream, wash; canal, channel, cut, cutoff, gut, kill, millrace, millstream, race, watercourse, waterway; affluent, branch, confluent, distributary, influent, tributary

2 chiefly British a part of a body of water that extends beyond the general shoreline explored many of the creeks along the Cornwall coast of England Synonyms arm, bay, bight, cove, gulf [chiefly British], embayment, estuary, firth, fjord (also fiord), inlet, loch [Scottish]Related Words harbor, port, road(s), roadstead; narrow, sound, strait; bayou; backwater, slough (also slew or slue)