creek
creek (krēk, krĭk) noun
Abbr. cr.
1. A small stream, often a shallow or intermittent tributary to a river. branch, brook1, kill2, run.
2. A channel or stream running through a salt marsh: tidal creeks teeming with shore wildlife.
3. Chiefly British. A small inlet in a shoreline, extending farther inland than a cove.
idiom.
up the creek or up the creek without a paddle Informal
In a difficult, unfortunate, or inextricable position.
[Middle English creke, probably from Old Norse kriki, bend.]