croaks 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of croak
1
as in complains
to express dissatisfaction, pain, or resentment usually tiresomely the cranky patient was always croaking to the nurses about something

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2
as in dies
slang to stop living I wouldn't go around saying your great-grandmother "croaked"

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3
as in kills
slang to deprive of life "I croaked the old bugger," he bragged

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4
as in assassinates
slang to put to death deliberately hooligans had croaked the street corner wino just for the hell of it

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croaks

2 of 2

noun

plural of croak
as in chirps

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of croaks
Verb
Males also begin their chorus of throaty croaks in hopes of attracting a willing mate. — Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026 Participants will be trained to learn the chirps and croaks of various local frog and toad species, then commit to going out to a particular piece of the watershed near their homes a couple of nights per month to listen for the frogs and toads and record their absence or presence. — Keith Matheny, Freep.com, 13 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for croaks
  1. complains
  2. dies
  3. kills
  4. assassinates
  5. cackles
  6. screams
  7. falls
  8. destroys
Verb
  • China is demanding the US ease export bans on high-tech goods, like chipmaking gear; the US bitterly complains about Chinese overproduction and transhipment.
    — Andy Browne, semafor.com, 21 Sep. 2026
  • There’ll always be someone who doesn’t like it, who complains about it.
    — Destiny Jackson, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of complains
Verb
  • The job is largely a ceremonial post, but if the sitting governor dies, resigns or is removed from office, then the lieutenant governor would be elevated to take over.
    — Jon Regardie, Los Angeles Times, 1 Oct. 2026
  • When Latif’s wife dies, he’s immediately forced to tamp down on the instincts that have provided for his family and wade unsteady into a world of bottles, transport, and dinner time.
    — CT Jones, Rolling Stone, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of dies
Verb
  • Moments later, MacKinney storms in, kills one of Colum’s guards, and orders his men to round up the castle’s women and sequester them in the chapel.
    — Max Gao, HollywoodReporter, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Other competitors will likely put up barriers, which kills the fun of having AI at your beck and call.
    — The Week US, TheWeek, 5 Oct. 2026
Definition of kills
Verb
  • That assassinates Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sparking retaliatory attacks by Iran across the Middle East.
    — Jill Lawrence, Mercury News, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Soleimani assassination | Trump orders a drone strike in Iraq that assassinates Qasem Soleimani, an influential Iranian military commander.
    — Erin Mansfield, USA Today, 1 Mar. 2026
Definition of assassinates
Noun
  • The doc is similarly unflinching in showing the horrific scene from 1900 in which Donald Sutherland’s sadistic fascist murders a young boy in a shockingly callous way, while Laura Betti as his equal in cruelty dissolves into blood-curdling cackles.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Her performance presents as camp, but her dynamic range of loud cackles and quiet glances is fabulous.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of cackles
Verb
  • The residents also projected a slick video (narrated by a British actor and viewed by Deadline) that talked about how the residents hear screams every 20 to 40 seconds, which averages out to 1,000 screams a day, 365,000 a year.
    — Lynette Rice, Deadline, 30 Sep. 2026
  • Between the rich burgundy hue, the delicate side splits on the crewneck sweater, the ribbed texture, and the wide-leg pant silhouette, this matching set screams rich-mom energy.
    — Alyssa Morin, InStyle, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of screams
Verb
  • In July, Reeves shared a brief clip of test footage of the upcoming film, which included the first proper look at Pattinson’s Bruce Wayne in a new Batsuit as what appears to be snow falls around him.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Margins shrink, investment capacity falls and businesses have fewer resources to innovate or improve the underlying infrastructure.
    — Sanjay Ghare, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of falls
Verb
  • Jains typically do not eat root vegetables because harvesting them destroys the whole plant and harms life-forms around it.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 Sep. 2026
  • How IonQ cracked error correction Since making measurements of a qubit destroys its quantum state, researchers can only gather information about their syndromes to know if the qubit has accumulated an error or not.
    — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of destroys

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croaky
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Cite this Entry

“Croaks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/croaks. Accessed 7 Oct. 2026.

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