up the creek

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up the creek

Where it comes from

American English.

phrase up a creek · up a creek without a paddle · up the creek without a paddle

idiomatic In trouble; in a difficult situation. We'll be up the creek if we lose those files, so we should back them up regularly.
Similar: up shit creek

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MLA

"up the creek." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20creek. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

up the creek. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20creek

Chicago

"up the creek." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20creek.

BibTeX

@misc{up_the_creek_2026,
  title = {up the creek},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/up%20the%20creek},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}