crack

crack
I. verb Etymology: Middle English crakken, from Old English cracian; akin to Old High German chrahhōn 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
>

New Collegiate Dictionary. 2001.

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  • crack — crack …   Dictionnaire des rimes

  • crack — crack; crack·et; crack·led; crack·less; crack·le·ware; crack·ly; crack·nel; crack·pot; gim·crack·ery; wise·crack·er; hy·dro·crack; crack·er; crack·er·jack; crack·ers; crack·ing; crack·le; crack·ling; gim·crack; crack·lin; crack·pot·ism; …   English syllables

  • 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. [1913 Webster] 2. Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral sense. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • crack — crack1 [krak] vi. [ME craken < OE cracian, to resound, akin to Ger krachen < IE base * ger : see CROW1] 1. to make a sudden, sharp noise, as of something breaking 2. to break or split, usually without complete separation of parts 3. a) to… …   English World dictionary

  • Crack — may refer to: Crack cocaine, the freebase form of cocaine that can be smoked Crack, a fracture or discontinuation in a body Crack may also refer to: Contents 1 Music 2 Slang …   Wikipedia

  • crack — ► NOUN 1) a narrow opening between two parts of something which has split or been broken. 2) a sudden sharp or explosive noise. 3) a sharp blow. 4) informal a joke or jibe. 5) informal an attempt to do something. 6) Irish enjoyable entertainment; …   English terms dictionary

  • Crack — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda La palabra crack es un anglicismo que se ha agregado al español para expresar diversos conceptos. En el arte, Generación del crack, un movimiento estético de narradores mexicanos de fines del siglo XX. En informática …   Wikipedia Español

  • 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 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • crack — vb *break, burst, bust, snap, shatter, shiver Analogous words: split, rend, cleave, rive (see TEAR) crack n 1 Crack, cleft, fissure, crevasse, crevice, cranny, chink are comparable when meaning an opening, break, or discontinuity made by or as if …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • crack — [adj] super, first rate able, ace, adept, best, capital, choice, crackerjack*, deluxe, elite, excellent, expert, first class, handpicked, pro*, proficient, skilled, skillful, superior, talented; concepts 528,542,574 Ant. bad, inferior, poor crack …   New thesaurus

  • crack up — {v.} 1. To wreck or be wrecked; smash up. * /The airplane cracked up in landing./ * /He cracked up his car./ 2. {informal} To become mentally ill under physical or mental overwork or worry. * /He had kept too busy for years, and when failures… …   Dictionary of American idioms

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