Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A croaking animal, especially a frog.
  • noun A person who grumbles or habitually predicts evil.
  • noun Any of various marine and freshwater fishes of the family Sciaenidae that make a croaking sound by vibrating certain muscles attached to the swim bladder.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bird or other animal that croaks.
  • noun One who croaks, murmurs, or grumbles; one who complains unreasonably; one who takes a desponding view of everything; an alarmist.
  • noun A corpse.
  • noun A name of various fishes.
  • noun The little roncador.
  • noun Any fish of the sciænoid genus Micropogon, especially M. undulatus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who croaks, murmurs, grumbles, or complains unreasonably; one who habitually forebodes evil.
  • noun A small American fish (Micropogon undulatus), of the Atlantic coast.
  • noun An American fresh-water fish (Aplodinotus grunniens); -- called also drum.
  • noun The surf fish of California.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun One who croaks.
  • noun A vocal pessimist, grumbler, or doomsayer.
  • noun A frog.
  • noun A fish in the family Sciaenidae, known for the throbbing sounds they make.
  • noun slang A doctor.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of several fishes that make a croaking noise
  • noun the lean flesh of a saltwater fish caught along Atlantic coast of southern U.S.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • "I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin bushwackin, hornswaglin, cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter."

    NOT YOUR TYPICAL BIGFOOT MOVIE 2008

  • Gabby Johnson: I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin’ bushwackin’, hornswagglin’ cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter.

    Think Progress » Poll Shows Palin’s Unfavorability Ratings At All-Time High As Broder Extols Her ‘Populist’ Appeal 2010

  • Oh, I know I'm a 'croaker', as McNaghten would say; he thinks we are as secure here as on Horse Guards.

    Flashman Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1969

  • Cotton protested at this that he was a "croaker" after all - I soon discovered that the word was applied to everyone who ventured to criticise McNaghten or express doubts about the safety of the British force in Kabul.

    Flashman Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1969

  • Pan fish, such as croaker, gafftop, drum, whiting, sand trout, along with an occasional flounder or red fish, will take the bait.

    The Daily News - News 2010

  • DMR's sampling included fin fish, such as croaker, white trout and ground mullet, along with blue crabs, shrimp and oysters that will be examined by the NOAA office in Pascagoula as early as today.

    Homepage 2010

  • Fish that prefer warmer waters -- such as croaker in the Mid-Atlantic -- are increasing in abundance in the region, Fogarty said.

    CourierPostOnline.com - News 2009

  • My Dad was a Southerner so his favorite Sunday breakfast always included some fried fish (whiting, porgy, Virginia spot or croaker), with grits, scrambled eggs and cheese and corn bread.

    Dining With Mis Lil: Father’s Day Potato Salad « 2010

  • I've caught some big croaker in it, but no blues that big.

    Fighting the James River Blues 2009

  • I've caught some big croaker in it, but no blues that big.

    Fighting the James River Blues 2009

Comments

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  • According to Wikipedia, 'some analysts distinguish among sub-types of Tom Swifties. Some call those in which the pun is carried by the verb "Croakers" (after the above listed example in which "Tom croaked"), or insist that only those examples in which the pun is carried by an adverb ending in -ly are "true" Tom Swifties (or Swiftlies), or make other distinctions.'

    Where does one apply to become a Tom Swiftie analyst?

    April 5, 2009