Word.ws English Dictionary

up a creek without a paddle

up a creek without a paddle is the alternative form of up the creek.

Meaning of up the creek

Prepositional phrase

  1. (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.
    Synonyms:
    up shit creek

Questions about up a creek without a paddle

What is up a creek without a paddle the alternative form of?
Up a creek without a paddle is the alternative form of up the creek.

Words near up a creek without a paddle in the dictionary

  1. Uotsuri Island
  2. Uotsuri-shima
  3. up
  4. up a close
  5. up a creek
  6. up a creek without a paddle
  7. up a gum tree
  8. up a height
  9. up a storm
  10. up a stump
  11. up a tree

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: up a creek without a paddle (page history and authors); up the creek (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “up a creek without a paddle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/up_a_creek_without_a_paddle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.