How to Use croak in a Sentence

croak

1 of 2 verb
  • We could hear the frogs croaking by the pond.
  • The man could only croak his name.
  • He had a heart attack and croaked.
  • He tried to speak but could barely croak.
  • Frogs croaked from a nearby ditch; birds trilled from the field’s edge.
    — Kirk Johnson, New York Times, 9 May 2020
  • The moms chattered and laughed and sang, while the birds made a croaking sound.
    — Nick Paumgarten, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2025
  • Three yards ultimately choked and croaked in that cloud of dust.
    — Nick Canepa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Nov. 2023
  • Into the nighttime, into the rain, their honks croaked and croaked.
    — Emiliano Tahui Gómez, Austin American-Statesman, 5 Jan. 2024
  • This one was just quietly croaking, and not flying near to chase anyone off.
    — Brandon Loomis, The Arizona Republic, 22 Sep. 2024
  • At night you’ll be lulled to sleep by the sound of quietly croaking frogs and wake up to the sound of birds chirping.
    — Rana Good, Forbes, 9 Oct. 2024
  • Each holds up fingers to determine his or her place in line, or marks timing by croaking like a frog.
    — Brian Seibert, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2018
  • Daltrey and Townshend croaked their way though their greatest hits medley.
    — Kevin Cusick, Twin Cities, 20 Feb. 2017
  • Where birds and frogs and rodents once chirped and croaked and chittered, the forest is silent, save for the sounds of passing cars.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 17 June 2024
  • Males also begin their chorus of throaty croaks in hopes of attracting a willing mate.
    — Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
  • Jim Tonelli said, bullfrogs croaking in a pond on his property.
    — Lee Bergquist, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 25 June 2018
  • But our zeal to croak mosquitoes by spraying poisons all over our neighborhoods and ourselves did not end back then.
    — Time, 30 June 2017
  • Those living close to water are used to the regular serenade of croaking frogs.
    — Jefferson County Cooperative Extension, AL.com, 18 July 2017
  • The sounds of nature hover throughout the symphony, whether in the form of croaking frogs or howling wolves.
    — National Geographic, 19 Apr. 2018
  • Along with the singing birds and croaking frogs, there’s the sound of chainsaws and stump grinders as some people remove trees from their properties.
    — Mary Jo Dilonardo, Treehugger, 28 Mar. 2023
  • One summer day, my phone rang from an unknown number, and Robbins’s deep but sweetly croaking voice boomed on the line.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New York Times, 23 Jan. 2018
  • Ravens circle overhead, croaking at my presence in defiance.
    — Josh Jackson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
  • If that weren't enough, the curse gets worse and worse over time, until the infected adventurer croaks completely.
    — Steven Strom, Ars Technica, 28 June 2017
  • Loud chirping crickets and croaking frogs in the evening mean warming, clear weather the next day, just like Sunday and Monday.
    — Tom Stienstra, San Francisco Chronicle, 28 May 2018
  • Their courtship rituals can include preening, croaking, puffing, tail fanning and attack.
    — William Booth, The Seattle Times, 26 Oct. 2018
  • In the West, various species of toads will bury themselves in the ground for almost a year, waiting to come out and croak for a few weeks during the rainy season.
    — Sami Emory, Outside Online, 27 Mar. 2018
  • Despite his small stature, Kwame parlays his hunting skills into a gladiator gig, where he’s expected to croak fast and hard.
    — Sean T. Collins, Vulture, 18 July 2024
  • And Powers’ voice, as quiet as ever, is the ghost stalking the halls, croaking stories of familial decay.
    — Pitchfork, 6 Dec. 2023
  • This process magnifies the croaking, resulting in a surprising volume of sound considering the size of the small frogs.
    — Ernie Cowan, San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Mar. 2026
  • There was intense, excruciating pain written all over the faces and croaking in the voices because it’s supposed to hurt when something this good comes to an end.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 23 Mar. 2025
  • And my girlfriend wasn’t thrilled when her character unexpectedly croaked after a single bout of exhaustion.
    — Chris Welch, The Verge, 24 Mar. 2018

croak

2 of 2 noun
  • The guys call out to the gals in croaks that kind of sound like duck quacks.
    — Angela Fritz, Washington Post, 22 Feb. 2018
  • Until one of them croaks, and the film jumps forth in time once again.
    — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Oct. 2024
  • The medicine was audible in the slow, soft croak of her voice.
    — Katrine Jo Andersen, The New Republic, 27 June 2018
  • Frogs croak and croak, their mating calls echoing in the air.
    — Patricia Mazzei, New York Times, 12 Nov. 2023
  • As the herring returned, so too have the croaks of spring peepers, a kind of frog.
    — Jess Bidgood, New York Times, 4 July 2017
  • Throughout the track, the coquí’s croak echoes briefly in the background.
    — Ashley Vega, People.com, 30 May 2025
  • His gravelly croak sounds melodic but grave.
    — Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 29 Sep. 2025
  • His signature croak doesn’t mesh well with the frantic nature of the beat.
    — Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 13 Sep. 2024
  • Where dust once blew, bullfrogs croak, waterfowl dive for food and in some areas tiny fish swim.
    — David Whiting, Orange County Register, 27 Jan. 2017
  • Then a persistent cough turned her delivery into a croak that was painful to the ear.
    — Stephen Castle, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2017
  • The purrs, croaks, and grunts of fish and crustaceans that live there and the sounds of healthy coral growing can echo through the water.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 14 Mar. 2024
  • Soon, the croak of Atlanta’s very own Wizrd filled the studio.
    — Mankaprr Conteh, Rolling Stone, 22 July 2022
  • There was no congestion or froggy-sounding croaks.
    — Adam Verner september 3, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2025
  • His character's ominous smirk and froggy croak are grittier than the gnarled wood of the lodge where the film is set.
    — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 July 2025
  • The one-time ingenue made gallows humor out of her ruination, glorying in the cracks and croaks of her voice.
    — Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 31 Jan. 2025
  • Frogs’ croaks and ribbits often echo through the night when the nocturnal species of these amphibians are most active.
    — Tracy Scott Forson, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Mar. 2025
  • The men stood frowning at each other and then back at Adi until the one without the gun broke into croaks of laughter.
    — Jonathan Miles, Harpers Magazine, 27 Jan. 2026
  • Because the fish can both hear noise and feel vibrations, divers must take care not to, say, bump their speargun on the bottom while listening for croaks.
    — Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 16 May 2024
  • Morrissey, who had an unvarnished croak for a voice and a melodic style that was very much his own, once called to his roommate from another room.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 23 July 2011
  • This lower tone with a little smoky croak around the edges can sound casual and natural — to some — or neurotic and unsure to others.
    — Amy Dickinson, Detroit Free Press, 6 Mar. 2018
  • This lower tone with a little smoky croak around the edges can sound casual and natural --- to some -- or neurotic and unsure to others.
    — Amy Dickinson, chicagotribune.com, 6 Mar. 2018
  • In its native Puerto Rico, the coquí frog’s eponymous croak is the stuff of lullabies.
    — Eleanor Cummins, Popular Science, 15 Jan. 2020
  • The gentle croaks of coquís, the native frog of the island, will transport you amid the kaleidoscope of lush vegetation and wildlife.
    — Lauren Sanchez, Vogue, 10 Feb. 2026
  • Bruzzone’s vocals seesaw between throat-buzzing alien croaks and clean vocals that wouldn’t sound out of place on a Mars Volta ballad.
    — Sam Goldner, Pitchfork, 30 Mar. 2026
  • The Dedinis didn’t know where to go to find frogs or how to distinguish the croaks of legal species against the nighttime wilderness orchestra.
    — Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 9 Sep. 2025
  • But his voice is nimble, a deep outer-borough croak that is a register or two away from demonic, before bursting into a girlish giggle.
    — Jason Zinoman, New York Times, 26 Feb. 2020
  • Bullfrogs croak and Yaqui topminnows wiggle through the pool once fed solely by natural artesian wells pulling ancient water from an aquifer.
    — Anita Snow, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Dec. 2020
  • The croak of thousands of invisible amphibians falls suddenly silent as the vets pass by on the way to Puntung's enclosure.
    — Henry Nicholls, Scientific American, 30 May 2012
  • The way Dylan’s relationship-dirges croak with characteristic gruffness safeguards them against that sort of frailty.
    — Hannah Seidlitz, Longreads, 10 Aug. 2020
  • Canvasbacks aren’t especially boisterous ducks, with the drakes making a low, rolling growl, sometimes described as a croak, and the hens a softer mallard-like quack.
    — M.d. Johnson, Field & Stream, 8 Nov. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'croak.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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