Crack
English
Pronunciation
Etymology 1
Old English cracian (meaning resonance), from Proto-Germanic *krakōnan, probably onomatopoeic.
Noun
Crack (plural Cracks)- A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.
- A large crack had formed in the roadway.
- A narrow opening.
- We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall.
- Open the door a crack.
- 2011 Phil McNulty Blackpool 2 - 3 Man Utd
- Dimitar Berbatov found the first cracks in the home side's resilience when he pulled one back from close range and Hernandez himself drew the visitors level with a composed finish three minutes later as Bloomfield Road's earlier jubilation turned to despair.
- A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.
- I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle.
- A potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.
- Whitney Houston:
- I wouldn't use it, if I was going to use it I can afford real cocaine. Crack is wack.
- Whitney Houston:
- (onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.
- The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles.
- (onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.
- The crack of the bat hitting the ball.
- 2011 Piers Newbery Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli
- She broke to love in the opening game, only for Bartoli to hit straight back in game two, which was interrupted by a huge crack of thunder that made Lisicki jump and prompted nervous laughter from the 15,000 spectators.
- (informal) An opportunity to attempt something.
- I'd like to take a crack at that game.
- (vulgar, slang) vagina.
- I'm so horny even the crack of dawn isn't safe!
- (vulgar) The space between the buttocks.
- Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing.
- (Scotland, common in lowland Scotland and Ulster) Conviviality; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humourous storytelling; good company.
- The crack was guid.
- Thon was guid crack.
- He/she is quare good crack.
- The party was great crack.
- (Geordie, Scots, Liverpudlian) Business/events
- What's the crack?
- (computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.
- Has anyone got a crack for DocumentWriter 3.0?
- (Cumbrian, elsewhere throughout the North of the UK) a meaningful chat.
- (Irish, informal, Liverpudlian) good fun. (See usage note re Scots sense).
- 2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury 2007, p. 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!
- 2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury 2007, p. 10:
- (Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.
Notes
- (Scots language, common in lowland Scotland and Ulster, conviviality): In the last few decades the word has been adopted into Gaelic; as there is no "k" in the Irish language the spelling craic has been devised.
Synonyms
- (vulgar: space between the buttocks): bum crack (UK), arse crack (UK), ass crack (US)
- (cocaine that is heat-altered at the moment of inhalation): crack cocaine
Verb
Crack (third-person singular simple present Cracks, present participle Cracking, simple past and past participle Cracked)
- (intransitive) To form cracks.
- It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack.
- (intransitive) To break apart under pressure.
- When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked.
- (intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.
- Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.
- (intransitive) To yield under interrogation.
- When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked.
- (intransitive) To make a cracking sound.
- The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.
- (intransitive, of a voice) To change rapidly in register.
- His voice cracked with emotion.
- (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.
- (intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.
- "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked.
- (transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.
- The ball cracked the window.
- (transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.
- You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.
- (transitive) To strike forcefully.
- She cracked him over the head with her handbag.
- (transitive) To open slightly.
- Could you please crack the window?
- (transitive) To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative)
- They managed to crack him on the third day.
- (transitive) To solve a difficult problem. (Figurative, from cracking a nut.)
- I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.
- (transitive) To overcome a security system or a 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.
- (transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.
- 2001, Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians
- Hershell cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit that drove Inez crazy....
- 2001, Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians
- (transitive) To tell (a joke).
- (transitive, chemistry, informal) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.
- Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700 °C.
- (transitive, computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.
- That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.
- (transitive, informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.
- I'd love to crack open a beer.
- (obsolete) To brag, boast.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.4.1.v:
- Cardan cracks' that he can cure all diseases with water alone, as Hippocrates of old did most infirmities with one medicine.
- 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, II.4.1.v:
Related terms
- crazed (exhibiting fine-line cracks)
Etymology 2
1793 slang, of Unknown origin
Adjective
Crack (not comparable)
- Highly trained and competent.
- Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case.
- Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.
- She's a crack shot with that rifle.
Derived terms
Related terms
Find words for Crack
(blow)
Adjectives
sharp; smart; mannish; punitive; admonitory; disciplinary; surreptitious; vindictive; solar plexus; resounding.
(fissure)
Adjectives
shallow; minute; widening; seamy; ragged ; fearful; devastating.
Verbs
close—; fill—; peer through—; seal—; seep through—; shine through—; squeeze into—; stretch out—; trace—; widen—; —breaks; —bursts; —damages; —endangers; —gapes; —opens; —separates; -—weakens; —widens; —yawns.
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
Translations
Noun
- The translations below need to be checked.
Verb
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- The translations below need to be checked.
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Derived terms
Finnish
Noun
Crack
- crack (variety of cocaine)
Declension
Declension of Crack (type risti)
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Spanish
Noun
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