English
crack
see also: Crack
Pronunciation
  • (RP, America) IPA: /kɹæk/
Etymology 1

From Middle English crakken, craken, from Old English cracian, from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂-.

Cognate with Scots crak, Western Frisian kreakje, Dutch kraken, Low German kraken, German krachen, Lithuanian gìrgžděti, xcl կարկաչ, Sanskrit गर्जति.

Verb

crack (cracks, present participle cracking; simple past and past participle cracked)

  1. (intransitive) To form cracks.
    It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack.
  2. (intransitive) To break apart under force, stress, or pressure.
    When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked.
  3. (intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.
    Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.
  4. (intransitive) To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.
    When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked.
  5. (intransitive) To make a cracking sound.
    The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.
  6. (intransitive, of a voice) To change rapidly in register.
    His voice cracked with emotion.
  7. (intransitive, of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.
    His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen.
  8. (intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.
    "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked.
  9. (intransitive, LGBT, slang) To realize that one is transgender.
    She cracked at age 22 and came out to her friends and family over the next few months.
  10. (transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.
    The ball cracked the window.
  11. (transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.
    You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.
  12. (transitive) To strike forcefully.
    She cracked him over the head with her handbag.
  13. (transitive) To open slightly.
    Could you please crack the window?
  14. (transitive, figurative) To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure.
    They managed to crack him on the third day.
  15. (transitive, figurative) To solve a difficult problem.
    I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.
  16. (transitive) To overcome a security system or component.
    It took a minute to crack the lock, three minutes to crack the security system, and about twenty minutes to crack the safe.
    They finally cracked the code.
  17. (transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.
    to crack a whip
  18. (transitive) To tell (a joke).
    The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke.
  19. (transitive) (chemistry) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.
    Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C.
  20. (transitive, computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.
    That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.
  21. (transitive, informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.
    I'd love to crack open a beer.
    Let's crack a tube and watch the game.
    • 1894, The Strand, volume 8, page 569:
      Old Bouvet was waiting in the passage when I entered, and he asked me whether we might not crack a bottle of wine together.
  22. (obsolete) To brag; to boast.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto III”, in The Faerie Queene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for William Ponsonby, →OCLC ↗, stanza 16, page 216 ↗:
      To whom the boaſter, that all knights did blot, / With proud diſdaine did ſcornefull anſwere make; […] And further did vncomely ſpeaches crake.
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour's Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene iii], page 134 ↗, column 2, line 268:
      And Æthiopes of their ſweet complexion crack.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cauſes of Melancholy. Vaine-glory, Pride, Ioy, Praiſe, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC ↗, partition I, section 2, member 3, subsection 14, page 126:
      Stultitiam ſuam produnt &c. (ſaith Platerus) your very tradeſmen, if they be excellent, will crack and bragge, and ſhew their folly in exceſſe.
    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cure of Melancholy. Simple alternatives. Compound Alternatiues, Cenſure of Compounds and mixt Phyſick.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, →OCLC ↗, partition II, section 4, member 1, subsection v:
      Cardan cracks that he can cure all diſeaſes with water alone, as Hippocrates of old did moſt infirmities with one medicine.
  23. (archaic, colloquial) To be ruined or impaired; to fail.
    • 1697, Virgil, “Dedications”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC ↗:
      The credit […] of exchequers cracks, when little comes in and much goes out.
  24. (colloquial) To barely reach or attain (a measurement or extent).
    An underground band that never cracked the Hot 100
Related terms
  • crazed (exhibiting fine-line cracks)
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • Italian: fare una battuta
Translations Translations Translations Noun

crack

  1. A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.
    A large crack had formed in the roadway.
  2. A narrow opening.
    We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall.
    Open the door a crack.
  3. A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.
    I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle.
  4. (slang) Crack cocaine, a potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.
    crack head
    • 2006, Noire [pseudonym], Thug-A-Licious: An Urban Erotic Tale, New York, N.Y.: One World, Ballantine Books, →ISBN, page 122 ↗:
      There were times when she could tell the Washingtons were overwhelmed by Jahlil's difficult ways, and one time Jessie even had the nerve to ask Carmiesha if she had smoked anything like crack or ice while she was pregnant with him.
    1. (figurative, humorous) Something good-tasting or habit-forming.
      kitty crack
  5. (onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.
    The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles.
  6. (onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.
    The crack of the bat hitting the ball.
  7. A sharp, resounding blow.
    • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 11, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC ↗:
      Mrs. Perkins, who has not been for some weeks on speaking terms with Mrs. Piper in consequence for an unpleasantness originating in young Perkins' having "fetched" young Piper "a crack," renews her friendly intercourse on this auspicious occasion.
  8. (informal) An attempt at something.
    I'd like to take a crack at that game.
  9. (vulgar, slang) The vagina.
    • 1956, Henry Miller, Quiet Days in Clichy, Grove Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 143 ↗:
      I rattled off more silly nonsense, all the while clutching her firmly, pushing my fingers into her gluey crack.
  10. (informal) The space between the buttocks.
    Synonyms: buttcrack
    Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing.
  11. (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; good company.
    The party was great crack.
    He's good crack. [It's nice having him around]
    • 2001, William F. Gray, The Villain, iUniverse, page 214:
      Being a native of Northumberland, she was enjoying their banter and Geordie good humour. This was what she needed — good company and good crack.
    • 2004, Bill Griffiths, Dictionary of North East Dialect, Northumbria University Press (quoting Dunn, 1950)
      "his a bit o' good crack — interesting to talk to"
    • 2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury, published 2007, page 10:
      By the time we've got a good drunk on us there'll be more crack in this valley than the night I pissed on the electric fence!
  12. (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Business; events; news.
    What's the crack?
    What's this crack about a possible merger?
  13. (computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.
    Has anyone got a crack for DocumentWriter 3.0?
  14. (hydrodynamics, US, dated) An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave through the air above the water.
    Coordinate term: slick
  15. (Cumbria, elsewhere throughout the North of the UK) a meaningful chat.
  16. (Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.
  17. The tone of voice when changed at puberty.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene ii], page 389 ↗, column 2:
      And let vs (Polidore) though now our voyces / Haue got the manniſh cracke, ſing him to'th'ground
  18. (archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.
    He has a crack.
  19. (archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.
    Synonyms: crackpot
    • 1711 December 29 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison; Richard Steele et al.], “TUESDAY, December 18, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 251; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC ↗, pages 251-256 ↗:
      On the London Cries […] I have lately received a letter from some very odd fellow upon this subject […] ‘Sir, […] , but I cannot get the parliament to listen to me ; who look upon me, forsooth, as a crack and a projector […] I am, SIR, &c. / RALPH CROTCHET’
      The spelling has been modernized.
  20. (obsolete) A boast; boasting.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC ↗, stanza 10, page 350 ↗:
      Slaunderous reproches,and fowle infamies, / Leaſings,backbytings,and vaineglorious crakes
  21. (obsolete) Breach of chastity.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act V, scene v], page 396 ↗:
      But thinke her bond of Chaſtity quite crack'd, I hauing 'tane the forfeyt.
  22. (obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.
    • c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act III, scene ii], page 86 ↗, column 2:
      The ſame Sir Iohn, the very ſame: I ſaw him breake Scogaan's Head at the Court-Gate, when hee was a Crack, not thus high: […]
    • c. 1608–1609 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene iii], page 4 ↗, column 2:
      Indeed la, tis a noble childe. / - A Cracke Madam.
  23. (slang, dated, UK) A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.
    I'll be with you in a crack.
Synonyms
  • (vulgar: space between the buttocks) bum crack (UK), arse crack (UK), ass crack (US)
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Etymology 2

Of unknown origin.

Adjective

crack (not comparable)

  1. Highly trained and competent.
    Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case.
  2. Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.
    She's a crack shot with that rifle.
    • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 38, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC ↗:
      Every scratch in the scheme was a gnarled oak in the forest of difficulty, and I went on cutting them down, one after another, with such vigour, that in three or four months I was in a condition to make an experiment on one of our crack speakers in the Commons.
Related terms Noun

crack (plural cracks)

  1. (obsolete) One who excels; the best.
Translations
Crack
Proper noun
  1. Surname


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