Adjacent Words

Crack definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CRACK, v.t.
1. To rend, break, or burst into chinks; to break partially; to divide the parts a little from each other; as, to crack a board or a rock; or to break without an entire severance of the parts; as, to crack glass, or ice.
2. To break in pieces; as, to crack nuts.
3. To break with grief; to affect deeply; to pain; to torture; as, to crack the heart. We now use break , or rend.
4. To open and drink; as, to crack a bottle of wine. [Low.]
5. To thrust out, or cast with smartness; as, to crack a joke.
6. To snap; to make a sharp sudden noise; as, to crack a whip.
7. To break or destroy.
8. To impair the regular exercise of the intellectual faculties; to disorder; to make crazy; as, to crack the brain.
CRACK, v.i.
1. To burst; to open in chinks; as, the earth cracks by frost; or to be marred without an opening; as, glass cracks by a sudden application of heat.
2. To fall to ruin, or to be impaired.
The credit of the exchequer cracks, when little comes in and much goes out. [Not elegant.]
3. To utter a loud or sharp sudden sound; as, the clouds crack; the whip cracks.
4. To boast; to brag; that is, to utter vain, pompous, blustering words; with of.
The Ethiops of their sweet complexion crack. [Not elegant.]
CRACK, n. [Gr.]
1. A disruption; a chinkor fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; a partial separation of the parts of a substance, with or without an opening; as a crack in timber, in a wall, or in glass.
2. A burst of sound; a sharp or loud sound, uttered suddenly or with vehemence; the sound of any thing suddenly rent; a violent report; as the crack of a falling house; the crack of a whip.
3. Change of voice in puberty.
4. Craziness of intellect; or a crazy person.
5. A boast, or boaster. [Low.]
6. Breach of chastity; and a prostitute. [Low.]
7. A lad; an instant. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: of the highest quality; "an ace reporter"; "a crack shot"; "a first-rate golfer"; "a super party"; "played top-notch tennis"; "an athlete in tiptop condition"; "she is absolutely tops" [syn: ace, A-one, crack, first-rate, super, tiptop, topnotch, top-notch, tops] n
1: a long narrow opening [syn: crack, cleft, crevice, fissure, scissure]
2: a narrow opening; "he opened the window a crack" [syn: gap, crack]
3: a long narrow depression in a surface [syn: crevice, cranny, crack, fissure, chap]
4: a sudden sharp noise; "the crack of a whip"; "he heard the cracking of the ice"; "he can hear the snap of a twig" [syn: crack, cracking, snap]
5: a chance to do something; "he wanted a shot at the champion" [syn: shot, crack]
6: witty remark [syn: wisecrack, crack, sally, quip]
7: a blemish resulting from a break without complete separation of the parts; "there was a crack in the mirror"
8: a purified and potent form of cocaine that is smoked rather than snorted; highly addictive [syn: crack, crack cocaine, tornado]
9: a usually brief attempt; "he took a crack at it"; "I gave it a whirl" [syn: crack, fling, go, pass, whirl, offer]
10: the act of cracking something [syn: fracture, crack, cracking] v
1: become fractured; break or crack on the surface only; "The glass cracked when it was heated" [syn: crack, check, break]
2: make a very sharp explosive sound; "His gun cracked"
3: make a sharp sound; "his fingers snapped" [syn: snap, crack]
4: hit forcefully; deal a hard blow, making a cracking noise; "The teacher cracked him across the face with a ruler"
5: pass through (a barrier); "Registrations cracked through the 30,000 mark in the county" [syn: break through, crack]
6: break partially but keep its integrity; "The glass cracked"
7: break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension; "The pipe snapped" [syn: snap, crack]
8: gain unauthorized access computers with malicious intentions; "she cracked my password"; "crack a safe"
9: suffer a nervous breakdown [syn: crack up, crack, crock up, break up, collapse]
10: tell spontaneously; "crack a joke"
11: cause to become cracked; "heat and light cracked the back of the leather chair"
12: reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking
13: break into simpler molecules by means of heat; "The petroleum cracked"

Merriam Webster's

I. verb Etymology: Middle English crakken, from Old English cracian; akin to Old High German chrahh?n to resound Date: before 12th century intransitive verb 1. to make a very sharp explosive sound <the whip cracks through the air> 2. to break, split, or snap apart 3. fail: as a. to lose control or effectiveness under pressure — often used with up b. to fail in tone <his voice cracked> 4. to go or travel at good speed — usually used with on <the steamboat cracked on> transitive verb 1. a. to break so that fissures appear on the surface <crack a mirror> b. to break with a sudden sharp sound <crack nuts> 2. to tell especially suddenly or strikingly <crack a joke> 3. to strike with a sharp noise ; rap <then cracks him over the head> <cracked a two-run homer in the fifth — New York Times> 4. a. (1) to open (as a bottle) for drinking (2) to open (a book) for studying b. to puzzle out and expose, solve, or reveal the mystery of <crack a code> c. to break into <crack a safe> d. to open slightly <crack the throttle> e. to break through (as a barrier) so as to gain acceptance or recognition f. to show or begin showing (a smile) especially reluctantly or uncharacteristically 5. a. to impair seriously or irreparably ; wreck <crack an opponent's courage> b. to destroy the tone of (a voice) c. disorder, craze d. to interrupt sharply or abruptly <the criticism cracked our complacency> 6. to cause to make a sharp noise <cracks his knuckles> 7. a. (1) to subject (hydrocarbons) to cracking (2) to produce by cracking <cracked gasoline> b. to break up (chemical compounds) into simpler compounds by means of heat II. noun Date: 14th century 1. a. a loud roll or peal <a crack of thunder> b. a sudden sharp noise <the crack of rifle fire> 2. a sharp witty remark ; quip 3. a. a narrow break ; fissure <a crack in the ice> b. a narrow opening <leave the door open a crack> <cracks between floorboards> — used figuratively in phrases like fall through the cracks to describe one that has been improperly or inadvertently ignored or left out <a player who fell through the cracks in the college draft> <children slipping through the cracks of available youth services> 4. a. a weakness or flaw caused by decay, age, or deficiency ; unsoundness b. a broken tone of the voice c. crackpot 5. moment, instant <the crack of dawn> 6. housebreaking, burglary 7. a sharp resounding blow <gave him a crack on the head> 8. an attempt or opportunity to do something <her first crack at writing a novel> <got first crack at the job opening> 9. a potent form of cocaine that is obtained by treating the hydrochloride of cocaine with sodium bicarbonate to create small chips used illicitly for smoking — called also crack cocaine III. adjective Date: 1793 of superior excellence or ability <a crack marksman>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., v., & adj. --n. 1 a a sudden sharp or explosive noise (the crack of a whip; a rifle crack). b (in a voice) a sudden harshness or change in pitch. 2 a sharp blow (a crack on the head). 3 a a narrow opening formed by a break (entered through a crack in the wall). b a partial fracture, with the parts still joined (the teacup has a crack in it). c a chink (looked through the crack formed by the door; a crack of light). 4 colloq. a mischievous or malicious remark or aside (a nasty crack about my age). 5 colloq. an attempt (I'll have a crack at it). 6 the exact moment (at the crack of noon; the crack of dawn). 7 colloq. a first-rate player, horse, etc. 8 dial. colloq. conversation; good company; fun (only went there for the crack). 9 sl. a potent hard crystalline form of cocaine broken into small pieces and inhaled or smoked for its stimulating effect. --v. 1 tr. & intr. break without a complete separation of the parts (cracked the window; the cup cracked on hitting the floor). 2 intr. & tr. make or cause to make a sudden sharp or explosive sound. 3 intr. & tr. break or cause to break with a sudden sharp sound. 4 intr. & tr. give way or cause to give way (under torture etc.); yield. 5 intr. (of the voice, esp. of an adolescent boy or a person under strain) become dissonant; break. 6 tr. colloq. find a solution to (a problem, code, etc.). 7 tr. say (a joke etc.) in a jocular way. 8 tr. colloq. hit sharply or hard (cracked her head on the ceiling). 9 tr. Chem. decompose (heavy oils) by heat and pressure with or without a catalyst to produce lighter hydrocarbons (such as petrol). 10 tr. break (wheat) into coarse pieces. --attrib.adj. colloq. excellent; first-rate (a crack regiment; a crack shot). Phrases and idioms: crack a bottle open a bottle, esp. of wine, and drink it. crack-brained crazy. crack a crib sl. break into a house. crack-down colloq. severe measures (esp. against law-breakers etc.). crack down on colloq. take severe measures against. crack-jaw colloq. --adj. (of a word) difficult to pronounce. --n. such a word. crack of doom a thunder-peal announcing the Day of Judgement. crack up colloq. 1 collapse under strain. 2 praise. crack-up n. colloq. 1 a mental breakdown. 2 a car crash. crack-willow a species of willow, Salix fragilis, with brittle branches. fair crack of the whip colloq. a fair chance to participate etc. get cracking colloq. begin promptly and vigorously. have a crack at colloq. attempt. Etymology: OE cracian resound

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crack Crack (kr[a^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cracked (kr[a^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. Cracking.] [OE. cracken, craken, to crack, break, boast, AS. cracian, cearcian, to crack; akin to D. kraken, G. krachen; cf. Skr. garj to rattle, or perh. of imitative origin. Cf. Crake, Cracknel, Creak.] 1. To break or burst, with or without entire separation of the parts; as, to crack glass; to crack nuts. 2. To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow; hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze. O, madam, my old heart is cracked. --Shak. He thought none poets till their brains were cracked. --Roscommon. 3. To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip. 4. To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke. --B. Jonson. 5. To cry up; to extol; -- followed by up. [Low] To crack a bottle, to open the bottle and drink its contents. To crack a crib, to commit burglary. [Slang] To crack on, to put on; as, to crack on more sail, or more steam. [Colloq.]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crack Crack, v. i. 1. To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts. By misfortune it cracked in the coling. --Boyle. The mirror cracked from side to side. --Tennyson. 2. To be ruined or impaired; to fail. [Collog.] The credit . . . of exchequers cracks, when little comes in and much goes out. --Dryden. 3. To utter a loud or sharp, sudden sound. As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack. --Shak. 4. To utter vain, pompous words; to brag; to boast; -- with of. [Archaic.] Ethoipes of their sweet complexion crack. --Shak.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crack Crack, n. 1. A partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass. 2. Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral sense. My love to thee is sound, sans crack or flaw. --Shak. 3. A sharp, sudden sound or report; the sound of anything suddenly burst or broken; as, the crack of a falling house; the crack of thunder; the crack of a whip. Will the stretch out to the crack of doom? --Shak. 4. The tone of voice when changed at puberty. Though now our voices Have got the mannish crack. --Shak. 5. Mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity; as, he has a crack. 6. A crazy or crack-brained person. [Obs.] I . . . can not get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector. --Addison. 7. A boast; boasting. [Obs.] ``Crack and brags.'' --Burton. ``Vainglorius cracks.'' --Spenser. 8. Breach of chastity. [Obs.] --Shak. 9. A boy, generally a pert, lively boy. [Obs.] Val. 'T is a noble child. Vir. A crack, madam. --Shak. 10. A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack. [Eng. & Scot. Colloq.] 11. Free conversation; friendly chat. [Scot.] What is crack in English? . . . A crack is . . . a chat with a good, kindly human heart in it. --P. P. Alexander.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Crack Crack, a. Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of. [Colloq.] One of our crack speakers in the Commons. --Dickens.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

I. VERB USES (cracks, cracking, cracked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If something hard cracks, or if you crack it, it becomes slightly damaged, with lines appearing on its surface. A gas main had cracked under my neighbour's garage and gas had seeped into our homes... Remove the dish from the oven, crack the salt crust and you will find the skin just peels off the fish. VERB: V, V n 2. If something cracks, or if you crack it, it makes a sharp sound like the sound of a piece of wood breaking. Thunder cracked in the sky... He cracked his fingers nervously. VERB: V, V n 3. If you crack a hard part of your body, such as your knee or your head, you hurt it by accidentally hitting it hard against something. He cracked his head on the pavement and was knocked cold. = bang, bash VERB: V n 4. When you crack something that has a shell, such as an egg or a nut, you break the shell in order to reach the inside part. Crack the eggs into a bowl. = break VERB: V n 5. If you crack a problem or a code, you solve it, especially after a lot of thought. He has finally cracked the system after years of painstaking research. VERB: V n 6. If someone cracks, they lose control of their emotions or actions because they are under a lot of pressure. (INFORMAL) She's calm and strong, and she is just not going to crack... VERB: V 7. If your voice cracks when you are speaking or singing, it changes in pitch because you are feeling a strong emotion. Her voice cracked and she began to cry. VERB: V 8. If you crack a joke, you tell it. He cracked jokes and talked about beer and girls. VERB: V n 9. see also cracked, cracking 10. If you say that something is not all it's cracked up to be, you mean that it is not as good as other people have said it is. (INFORMAL) Package holidays are not always all they're cracked up to be. PHRASE: V inflects II. NOUN AND ADJECTIVE USES (cracks) 1. A crack is a very narrow gap between two things, or between two parts of a thing. Kathryn had seen him through a crack in the curtains. = chink N-COUNT 2. If you open something such as a door, window, or curtain a crack, you open it only a small amount. He went to the door, opened it a crack, and listened. N-SING 3. A crack is a line that appears on the surface of something when it is slightly damaged. The plate had a crack in it... Hundreds of office buildings and homes developed large cracks in walls and ceilings. N-COUNT 4. A crack is a sharp sound, like the sound of a piece of wood breaking. Suddenly there was a loud crack and glass flew into the car... 'Crack!'–The first shot rang out, hitting Paolo. N-COUNT; SOUND 5. If you have or take a crack at something, you make an attempt to do or achieve something. (INFORMAL) I should love to have a crack at the Olympia title in my last year... = go, shot N-SING: N at n/-ing 6. A crack is a slightly rude or cruel joke. When Paul made the crack about the 'famous girl detective', I began to suspect that he had it in for you. N-COUNT 7. Crack is a very pure form of the drug cocaine. N-UNCOUNT see also crack cocaine 8. A crack soldier or sportsman is highly trained and very skilful. ...a crack undercover police officer... ADJ: ADJ n 9. see also craic 10. If you say that someone does something at the crack of dawn, you are emphasizing that they do it very early in the morning. I often start work at the crack of dawn when there is a big order to get out. PHRASE: PHR after v [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Break, cleft, breach, chink, fissure, crevice, cranny, opening, rift, rent. 2. Report, clap, pop, burst, explosion. 3. Snap (of a whip). II. v. a. 1. Break (partially). 2. Split, chop, cleave, rend asunder. 3. Snap (as a whip). 4. Craze, drive insane, madden. III. v. n. 1. Break, split, burst, chap, open in chinks. 2. [With of.] Brag, bluster, vapor, vaunt, boast, gasconade, crow. IV. a. (Colloq.) Excellent, capital, tiptop, first-rate, first-class.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A whore.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

To boast or brag; also to break. I cracked his napper; I broke his head.

Moby Thesaurus

Daedalian, Parthian shot, above par, abrade, abrasion, abysm, abyss, account for, ace, address, adept, adroit, allegation, allegorize, alligator, answer, aperture, aphorism, apostrophe, apothegm, approach, apt, arroyo, artistic, assay, assertion, attempt, authoritative, averment, back answer, band, bang, bar, bark, bash, bastinado, bat, beating, belt, bezel, bid, biff, birthmark, bit, blackhead, blast, blaze, bleb, blemish, blister, bloody, blow, bon mot, bonk, boom, bottom, boutade, bowshot, box canyon, brand, bravura, breach, break, break open, break up, breakage, breath, breathing, brief span, bright idea, bright thought, brilliant, brilliant idea, broach, broaching, bug, bulla, bump, burn, burn in, burn off, burst, bust, canal, canalize, canyon, carve, cast, catch, caustic remark, cauterize, cavity, chafe, chamfer, channel, chap, char, chase, chasm, check, chimney, chink, chip, chisel, chop, cicatrix, cicatrize, clack, clap, clarify, clash, claw, clean, clear up, clearing, cleave, cleft, cleuch, clever, click, clip, clobber, close quarters, close range, clough, clout, clump, coal, col, coldcock, come apart, come unstuck, comeback, comedo, comment, conceit, concussion, coordinated, corrugate, corrugation, coulee, couloir, coup, crack, crack up, crackerjack, cracking, crackle, crackling, cranny, crash, crater, craze, crepitate, crepitation, crevasse, crevice, crimp, crump, cryptanalyze, cunning, cupel, cut, cut apart, cut open, cute, cutting remark, cwm, dado, daedal, dash, deal, deal a blow, debug, decipher, deck, declaration, decode, decrepitate, decrepitation, decrypt, deface, defacement, defect, defection, deficiency, defile, deform, deformation, deformity, deft, dell, demonstrate, demythologize, detonate, detonation, dexterous, dextrous, dictum, dig, dike, dint, diplomatic, discharge, disclosure, discontinuity, disentangle, disfiguration, disfigure, disfigurement, disintegrate, dispart, distort, distortion, ditch, divaricate, divide, divine, do, donga, dope, dope out, draw, drawback, drollery, drub, drubbing, drumming, dump, earreach, earshot, effort, elucidate, endeavor, engrave, engraving, enlighten, epigram, essay, euhemerize, excavation, excellent, exclamation, exemplify, exfoliate, experiment, expert, explain, explain away, explicate, explode, explosion, exposit, expound, expression, facetiae, failing, failure, fall to pieces, fancy, fathom, fault, faute, fenestra, fetch, fetch a blow, figure out, find out, find the answer, fissure, fistula, flame, flap, flash, flash burn, flash of wit, flaw, fleer, flight of wit, fling, flip, flop, flout, flume, flute, fluting, fly open, foible, fontanel, foolery, foramen, found, fracture, frailty, fray, frazzle, freckle, fret, fulminate, fulmination, furrow, fusillade, gag, gall, gambit, gap, gape, gash, gat, get, get right, gibe, gibing retort, give away, give reason for, give the meaning, give way, go, go haywire, go into hysterics, go off, go to pieces, goffer, good, goodish, gorge, gouge, graceful, greeting, groove, guess, guess right, gulch, gulf, gully, gunshot, hair, hair space, hairbreadth, hairsbreadth, half a jiffy, half a mo, half a second, half a shake, handy, happy thought, have it, hemangioma, hiatus, hickey, high-class, high-grade, high-quality, high-test, hit, hit a clip, hit it, hole, hollow, hurt, illuminate, illustrate, imperfection, inadequacy, inch, incise, incision, infirmity, ingenious, injure, injury, inlet, instant, interjection, interpret, interstice, interval, jab, jape, jeer, jest, jiff, jiffy, joint, keloid, kink, kloof, knock, knock cold, knock down, knock out, lacerate, laceration, lacuna, lay open, laying open, leak, leg-pull, lentigo, lesion, let have it, lick, list, little, little problem, little ways, lose courage, lose self-control, magisterial, maim, make clear, make mincemeat of, make out, make plain, mar, master, masterful, masterly, maul, mention, microgroove, microsecond, milium, millisecond, minute, moat, mock, mole, moment, mortal wound, mot, move, mutilate, mutilation, nasty crack, neat, needle scar, nevus, niche, no mean, notch, note, nullah, observation, offer, ope, open, open the lock, open up, opening, opening up, orifice, outlet, oxidate, oxidize, parch, part, parting shot, pass, passage, passageway, paste, pelt, percussion, persiflage, phrase, pierce, pimple, pistol shot, pit, play of wit, pleasantry, pleat, plow, plumb, plunk, pock, pockmark, poke, politic, pop, popularize, pore, port-wine mark, port-wine stain, position, potshot, pound, problem, professional, proficient, pronouncement, psych, psych out, punch, puncture, pustule, put-down, put-on, puzzle out, pyrolyze, question, quick, quip, quips and cranks, quite some, rabbet, rap, rationalize, ravel, ravel out, ravine, ready, reflection, remark, rend, rent, repartee, report, resolve, resourceful, retort, riddle, rifle, rifling, rift, rime, rip, riposte, rive, ruck, rude reproach, run, rupture, rut, sally, salvo, savage, say, saying, scab, scald, scale, scar, scarify, scintillation, scissure, scoff, scorch, score, scotch, scrape, scratch, scuff, scurrility, seam, sear, sebaceous cyst, sec, second, second-degree burn, sentence, separate, shake, shatter, shed light upon, shiver, short answer, short distance, short piece, short way, shortcoming, shot, show, show how, show the way, simplify, singe, sizzling, skilled, skillful, skin, slam, slap, slash, slat, slice, slick, slit, slog, slot, slug, smack, smart crack, smart saying, smash, smite, snag, snap, snapping, snappy comeback, soak, sock, solder, solve, some, something missing, sore, sort out, space, span, spell out, spit, spitting, spitting distance, splat, splinter, split, split second, splitting, sprain, spread, spread out, spring a leak, spring open, stab, stab wound, stagger, start, statement, statesmanlike, step, stick, stoma, strain, strawberry mark, streak, streaking, stria, striate, striation, striature, striga, strike, strike at, striola, stripe, striping, stroke, stroke of wit, strong bid, sty, stylish, subjoinder, sulcation, sulcus, superior, swap, swat, swing, swing open, swinge, swipe, tactful, taint, tap, tattoo, taunt, tear, tear open, tentative, the compleat, the complete, third-degree burn, thought, throw light upon, throw open, throwing open, thump, thwack, tick, time, torrefy, track, trauma, traumatize, trench, trial, trial and error, trice, trough, try, turn of thought, twink, twinkle, twinkling, twist, twit, twitch, two shakes, uncorking, undertaking, undo, unfold, unlock, unravel, unriddle, unscramble, unstopping, untangle, untwist, unweave, utterance, valley, verbal thrust, verruca, vesicate, vesicle, virtuoso, void, volley, vulcanize, vulnerable place, wadi, wale, wallop, warp, wart, weak link, weak point, weakness, weal, weld, well-done, well-worn groove, welt, wen, whack, wham, whap, whirl, whitehead, whomp, whop, wink, wisecrack, witticism, word, work, work out, workmanlike, wound, wounds immedicable, wrench, wrinkle, yak, yawn, yerk