WORD ARCHIVE
EEK
EEK is a word of sudden fright or startled alarm
What EEK does
EEK is the small scream — not of genuine terror but of the quick shock that passes in a second. A mouse, a spider, a surprise. It is comedy fear rather than actual fear.
EEK as literary candidate
EEK is almost entirely vowel — the sharp I of alarm, prolonged by the repetition of E. Its sound is its meaning. A 261-page book of EEK would be a sustained exercise in that specific vowel of startlement.