Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also croak it) to die; also in fig. use (see cit. 1981).

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1823		‘Jon Bee’ Dict. of the Turf, the Ring, the Chase, etc.
1837–8		‘The Fine Young Common Prostitute’ in Cuckold’s Nest 42: She died, [...] And the jury said, she croaked through eating / Too much stinking meat.
1846		Swell’s Night Guide 68: One of her mots brought home a swell well blunted, and they worked the hocus dodge on him; vell, the dose vos too multa, and the swell croaked.
1852		Kendal Mercury 3 Apr. 6/2: Vy, blow me, if he dident turn up his blinkers (eyes) like a croaking quacker (dying duck), and said, ‘if you doesn’t give hover, I’ll get my mother to mill your napper (punch your head).
1858		Bell’s Life in Sydney 24 July 3/2: She also intimated that Mrs W.’s first husband ‘croaked’ (whatever she meant by the term) from lack of tenderness.
1863		Criminal Life (NY) 19 Dec. n.p.: He expects [the pold woman] soon to croak.
1865		Leaves from Diary of Celebrated Burglar 7/2: ‘Turn it up’ whoever has got it [i.e stolen money], or by heavens some one will ‘croak’ for it.
1870		E. Greey Queen’s Sailors I 287: She says her missis av bin werry dicky and likely to croak.
1882		Dundee Courier 4 July 7/5: Poor beggar to go and croak in quod.
1882		A. Trumble Mysteries of N.Y. 15: ‘[T]he cat licked the pizened milk and croaked’.
1888		East London Observer 4 Feb. n.p.: Hundreds, too, of slaved dead beats, / All, all stone broke, / Perambulate the Brisbane streets, / Fit, fit to croak.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 19 July 18/2: ‘Am I goin’ to croak, Doc?’ / ‘Not if you keep the bandages right.’ / ‘And if I take ’em off I’ll peg out, eh?’ / He nodded.
1899		J. Flynt Tramping with Tramps 330: Did Bud croak down in Texas, dead sartain?
1903		Ade People You Know 89: ‘Hully Chee!’ exclaimed the Artist. ‘He’s Croaked’.
1906		Marvel 16 June 558: It would have been awful if that poor little beggar had croaked.
c.1910		[perf. Vesta Tilley] I Know My Business 🎵 ‘P’r’aps you’d like a nice cigar.’ / Lor, when I put it on, I felt that I should croak.
1916		J. Lait ‘Charlie the Wolf’ Beef, Iron and Wine (1917) 29: T’ree days ago dat lion’s lioness croaked.
1920		H.C. Witwer Kid Scanlon 356: I got a man here that’s liable to croak any minute – this ain’t no time for comedy!
1926		Kipling ‘Propagation of Knowledge’ Complete Stalky & Co. (1987) 229: Any more of ’em been croakin’ lately, Beetle?
1931		D. Runyon ‘The Brain Goes Home’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 228: If [...] he happens to croak, we are in a very tough spot.
1944		J. Cary Horse’s Mouth (1948) 109: Nice bit in the papers if you croak in my bed.
1953		S. Bellow Augie March (1996) 508: Take it easy. Nobody’s going to croak.
1956		I. Fleming Diamonds Are Forever (1958) 142: We’re going to [...] go on finding out until the guy croaks.
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 58: He worked [...] in the morgue, and this nice lookin young head croaks so he throws a hump inner.
1977		E. Bunker Animal Factory 159: The dude in the hospital croaked.
1981		Eble Campus Sl. Mar. 2: croak – figuratively, to die: ‘I was so embarrassed I could have croaked’.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 189: croak: to die.
1985		J. Sullivan ‘Sleeping Dogs Lie’ Only Fools and Horses [TV script] When you tell her her Dookie-Wookie’s croaked it she’ll have twins!
1993		Tarantino & Avery Pulp Fiction [film script] 57: If she fuckin’ croaks on me, I’m a grease spot.
1999		J. Cameron Brown Bread in Wengen [ebook] ‘Dead geezer croaked on my stairs’.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 30: ‘You respect the guy?’ ‘Yeah, for holding things together after the old boy croaked.’.
2006		C. Hiaasen Nature Girl 210: One time a guy almost croaked on me in bed.
2010		K. Richards Life 80: Of course they all croaked before then.
2022		J. Hannaham Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit 16: If you croaked before you killed your number, they wouldn’t dump your carcase off-site.

2. to kill, to murder; thus croaking, n., a murder; croak artist, n., a murderer.

1848		Ladies’ Repository (N.Y.) Oct. VIII:37 316/1: Croak, to murder.
1849		Bell’s Life in Sydney 21 July 3/2: [He] did threaten to astound, astonish, bunt, batter, crush, croak, damage, destroy, eat, embowel, fake,flog, grass, gall, harass, hammer, injure, impinge, jam, job, kill, knock-out, larrup, lick, mummyfy, murder, nail, nauseate, unify, obliterate, pound, punish, quiet, quench, rush, roast, settle, splfllicate, tear-to-atoms, terrify, ’ug, ’umbug, velt, vip, wiolute, wanquish, xasperate, xtinguish, and yoke-up the Zany.
1852		Kendal Mercury 17 Apr. 6/1: It is a corpus coraking concern, sure enough.
1859		Matsell Vocabulum.
1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 259: Jiggered if I don’t think that crack on the head croaked him.
1867		Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 14 Sept. n.p.: Bill Mortimer (in for attempting to ‘croake’ officer Williams’.
1876		St Louis Globe-Democrat 19 Jan. n.p.: If he had his ‘shooting-iron’ with him he would ‘croak the bloody sucker’ who ‘bounced’ him.
1882		Dundee Courier 22 Sept. 7/4: I’d croak one of you tyrants, and be strung up, and have done with it.
1885		Ledger (Noblesville, IN) 14 Aug. 6/2: ‘I hear they are about to “croak” a man’.
1899		J. Flynt Tramping with Tramps 391: But they can never croak us all, anyhow. We’re too strong for that, thank God!
1905		H. Green Actors’ Boarding House (1906) 60: Gee, Pug’d croak me ef he knowed I was doin’ this.
1913–14		E. O’Neill The Web in Ten ‘Lost’ Plays (1995) 67: What did yuh croak him for?
1924		C.J. Dennis ‘The Crusaders’ in Chisholm (1951) 80: ‘Jist now,’ sez Brannigan. ‘Spike Wegg’s in smoke. / Oh, jist concems a cove ’e tried to croak.’.
1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 410: One who kills, croak artist, a blood, bump-off guy.
1926		J. Black You Can’t Win (2000) 170: I croaked him because he was slandering the best woman that ever stood in two shoes.
1934		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 192: If somebody hasn’t croaked that kike by this time, they ought to.
1942		Whizzbang Comics 67: I guess her skipper reckons he’s croaked Cyclone Carson, but he’s going to find out his mistake before very long!
1952		(con. 1920s) ‘Harry Grey’ Hoods (1953) 186: Is he finished? Did I croak him?
1963		A.S. Fleischman Venetian Blonde (2006) 219: She knocked me out of the will years ago. Figured I might croak her for it.
1978		R. Caron Go-Boy! 28: I think you just croaked the big moron.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 189: croak: to [...] kill.
1989		C. Hiaasen Skin Tight 107: Let’s say the doctor croaked Vicky.
1997		(con. 1970s) G. Pelecanos King Suckerman (1998) 10: Why’d you croak him then, man?
2007		T. Dorsey Hurricane Punch 88: I didn’t croak that dude at the Skyway.

3. as croak oneself, to commit suicide.

1846		Swell’s Night Guide 61: Go and croak your ugly self, you half bred pig!
1903		S.F. Call 1 Feb. 5/3: ’Course, I could a’ croaked myself, an’ the whole thing ’ud ’a’ been off.
1932		(con. 1910s) J.T. Farrell Young Lonigan in Studs Lonigan (1936) 110: He can tell you how many birds has croaked themselves.
1996		(con. 1949) G. Pelecanos Big Blowdown (1999) 265: He croaked himself on account he couldn’t live with the way he looked.

4. (US campus) to fail an examination or a course [fig. use of sense 1].

1900

E.H. Babbitt ‘College Words and Phrases’ in DN II:i 30: croak, v. i. To flunk.