Crack
Crack (krak) , transitive verb
[Old English cracken, craken, to crack, break, boast, Anglo-Saxon cracian, cearcian, to crack; akin to Dutch kraken, German krachen; compare Sanskrit garj to rattle, or perh. of imitative origin. Compare 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.
He thought none poets till their brains were cracked.
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]
Collocations (3)
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. [Colloquial]
Crack , intransitive verb
1.
To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts.
By misfortune it cracked in the coling.
The mirror cracked from side to side.
2.
To be ruined or impaired; to fail. [Collog.]
The credit... of exchequers cracks, when little comes in and much goes out.
3.
To utter a loud or sharp, sudden sound.
As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack.
4.
To utter vain, pompous words; to brag; to boast; -- with of. [Archaic]
Ethoipes of their sweet complexion crack.
Crack , noun
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.
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?
4.
The tone of voice when changed at puberty.
Though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack.
5.
Mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity; as, he has a crack.
6.
A crazy or crack-brained person. [Obsolete]
I... can not get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector.
7.
A boast; boasting. [Obsolete]
Crack and brags.
Vainglorius cracks.
8.
Breach of chastity. [Obsolete] — Shakespeare
9.
A boy, generally a pert, lively boy. [Obsolete]
Val. 'T is a noble child. Vir. A crack, madam.
10.
A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack. [English & Scottish Colloquial]
11.
Free conversation; friendly chat. [Scottish]
What is crack in English?... A crack is... a chat with a good, kindly human heart in it.
12.
a witty remark; a wisecrack.
13.
a chance or opportunity to do something; an attempt; as, I'll take a crack at it.
14.
a form of cocaine, highly purified and prepared as small pellets, especially suitable for smoking; -- also called rock. Used in this form it appears to be more addicting than cocaine powder. [slang]
Crack , adjective
Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of; as, a crack shot. [Colloquial]
One of our crack speakers in the Commons.