croak

There’s a wicked irony in micromanaging your entire life on Earth only to croak and have your soul potentially jettisoned to some formless state of being, entirely unknown to mere mortals.

From Salon ● Nov. 27, 2025

“I’m so happy for you,” Luke manages to croak.

From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2023

“If I croak tomorrow, I can honestly say that I wouldn’t be any happier than I am here today,” Sandersen said.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 12, 2023

Purdue, unlike Virginia, which lost by 20, kept a lukewarm hope into the closing minute, only to see it croak in disarray and send the Knights in blue charging and dancing onto the floor.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 17, 2023

She’d eaten about three bites when a raven settled on the telephone pole above and began to croak at them.

From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan

At the end of “The Final Conflict,” the third “Omen” movie from 1981, Damien the Antichrist croaks out the words, “Nazarene, you have won ... nothing,” then collapses.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

Then he croaks the hook from the album’s first single, “Houdini,” a riff on the chorus of Steve Miller’s “Abracadabra”:

From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2024

A healthy coral reef is noisy, full of the croaks, purrs, and grunts of various fishes and the crackling of snapping shrimp.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 13, 2024

These beady-eyed amphibians can be found on the banks of noisy streams throughout China, where the rapids would drown out ordinary croaks and chirps.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 11, 2024

“Go away,” Joon croaks from under the pillow.

From "A Step from Heaven" by An Na

"Vooaaria!" the bird croaked, a concoction of sounds that resembled a drunken old man.

From Barron's ● May 20, 2026

"The only flowers anyone saw in Aston were the ones you threw in the hole after you when you croaked it at the age of 53 'cos you'd worked yourself to death."

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2025

Frogs croaked from nearby waterholes, joining the chorus of spectators who hollered as the announcer introduced their favorite racers — along with their laundry lists of sponsors.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2025

“See who we’ve got near UW,” he finally croaked out in a dry voice.

From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2022

The raven croaked again and bounced forward, flapping its wings.

From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack

“As we got to the end of the season losing these games, it was just croaking me,” Kraft says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026

Maybe that’s not the most dignified way to go, but for Annette and others like her, it’s better than croaking in the heat of the desert sun.

From Salon ● Jan. 8, 2025

Because of this, and the fact that it makes some people sound like they are on the verge of tears, some doctors once believed that the croaking or breathy vocalizations were tied to psychological trauma.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2024

In one case, the Telegraph reports, a couple in the French countryside was ordered to get rid of a pond because the sound of croaking frogs annoyed the neighbors.

From NewsForKids.net ● Mar. 13, 2024

“Rowdy,” I said, in a croaking voice, “don’t jump on that monkey. I don’t think he means to harm us. I think he’s bluffing, or at least I hope he is.”

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls