crick

noun

1. A painful stiffness in some part of the body, like the neck or back, which makes it difficult to move the affected body part for some time; a cramp.

   “I had a crick in my neck for a week after ordering the wrong pillow at the Graylyn Estate […]”

2. A small jackscrew.
3. (Appalachia, alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of creek.
4. The creaking of a door, or a noise resembling it.

verb

1. To develop a crick (cramp, spasm).

   “Stomach sleeping never worked for her because her neck cricked and pained in so short a time, that she never got the chance to fall asleep that way although the rest of her body snuggled well into the bed in that position.”

   ““He's upstairs.” As soon as she said this, a loud knocking came from the crawl space below. Katrín was so startled that her neck cricked painfully as she looked down. Adrenalin rushed through her veins and the pain in her fingers disappeared.”

2. To cause to develop a crick; to create a crick in.

   “He'd fallen asleep after all (and he'd done it in such a way as to crick his neck and his back and put his right arm to sleep; hardly a good start to a busy day) and now daylight was seeping through the bald patches in the thatch, ...”

3. To twist, bend, or contort, especially in a way that produces strain.

   “He stopped a few feet from her, probably because he'd have to crick his neck to glare at her and that would just be embarrassing for him. “Dealing with garbage suits you.””

   “The throbbing pain that even now was coursing through his neck and shoulders, making him crick his neck.”

   “Addy was tall for a woman, and he liked that because he didn't have to crick his neck ...”

   “Now she was able to stand on her feet, so long as she kept her neck cricked.”

4. (intransitive)To make a sharp, penetrating sound; chirp.