"Generally where the English language is spoken a creek means a small inlet of the sea, but in Australia a creek is literally what it is etymologically, a crack in the ground. In dry weather there is very little water; perhaps in the height of summer the stream altogether ceases to run, and the creek becomes a string of waterholes; but when the heavens are opened, and the rain falls, it reappears a river."
<hw>Creeklet</hw>, <i>n</i>. diminutive of Creek.
1884. T. Bracken, `Lays of Maori,' p. 91:
"One small creeklet day by day murmurs."
<hw>Creeper</hw>, <i>n</i>. The name (sc. <i>Tree-creeper</i>) is given to several New Zealand birds of the genus <i>Certhiparus</i>, <i>N.O. Passeres</i>. The Maori names are <i>Pipipi, Toitoi</i>, and <i>Mohona</i>.
1888. W. L. Buller, `Birds of New Zealand,' vol. i. p. 51:
"<i>Certhiparus Novae Zelandiae</i>, Finsch. New Zealand Creeper." [A full description.]
<hw>Cronk</hw>, <i>adj</i>. Derived from the German <i>krank</i>—sick or ill.
(1) A racing term used of a horse which is out of order and not "fit" for the contest; hence transferred to a horse whose owner is shamming its illness and making it "run crooked" for the purpose of cheating its backers.
(2) Used more generally as slang, but not recognized in Barere and Leland's `Slang Dictionary.'