creek bed

6 3.4

The dry or wet bottom of a small stream where water flows

noun
/krik bɛd/

: cauce de arroyo

Across the empty creek bed, an occasional wild turkey flew toward the departing streak of daylight.
a dry creek bed
a rocky creek bed
a shallow creek bed

Wasn't he sort of at a Creek bed with his his feet or his legs in the water?

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Examples

The impact of the water gouged out a deep pool in the rock of the creek bed.

Fiction book (1992)
After the rain, the creek bed was full of rushing water, creating a beautiful sound.
- They found it in a creek bed.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)
We can go along the creek bed and probably still come up with something new.

Fiction book (1996)
Will parked the car at a dry creek bed several miles from the school.

Fiction book (1990)
They're camped by the creek bed.

The Last Redemption (2025)
Stalks of corn border the creek bed in rows, like spectators.

Fiction book (1990)
Turning sharply, the trappers' jeep splashes through the creek bed without slowing.

Fiction book (1993)
Slabs of limestone had tumbled from the falls and lay broken in the creek bed, filigreed with fossils.

Fiction book (2000)
The hikers rested on the smooth rocks of the creek bed as the water flowed gently by.

Synonyms

riverbed

vscreek bed

18 3.0

The ground at the bottom of a river where water flows

is for a smaller, shallower channel floor not a major one

river bottom

vscreek bed

3 2.9

The ground at the lowest part of a river channel where water flows

refers to the channel floor generally, not only the very lowest area

streambed

vscreek bed

1 4.9

The ground where a river flows now or used to flow

is narrower, used for smaller local flows rather than large ones

Surface Forms

creek bed singular

creek beds plural

Morphology

creek + bed

The meaning 'the bottom of a creek' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'creek' (a small waterway) with 'bed' (the bottom or base). This noun–noun compositional pattern (waterbody + bed) is common cross-linguistically and follows ordinary English compounding, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

Creek bed is a simple image: the creek is a small stream and the bed is the place where water lies. So it means the 'bottom' of the creek — the place where water flows or used to flow.