crack
Americanverb (used without object)
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cracks,
present (3rd person singular)
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cracked,
past participle, past
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cracking
present participle
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to break without complete separation of parts; become fissured.
The plate cracked when I dropped it, but it was still usable.
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to break with a sudden, sharp sound.
The branch cracked under the weight of the snow.
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to make a sudden, sharp sound in or as if in breaking; snap.
The whip cracked.
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(of the voice) to break abruptly and discordantly, especially into an upper register, as because of weariness or emotion.
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to fail; give way.
His confidence cracked under the strain.
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to succumb or break down, especially under severe psychological pressure, torture, or the like.
They questioned him steadily for 24 hours before he finally cracked.
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Chemistry. to decompose as a result of being subjected to heat.
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Chiefly South Midland and Southern U.S. to brag; boast.
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Chiefly Scot. to chat; gossip.
verb (used with object)
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cracks,
present (3rd person singular)
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cracked,
past participle, past
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cracking
present participle
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to cause to make a sudden sharp sound.
The driver cracked the whip.
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to break without complete separation of parts; break into fissures.
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to break with a sudden, sharp sound.
to crack walnuts.
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to strike and thereby make a sharp noise.
The boxer cracked his opponent on the jaw.
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to induce or cause to be stricken with sorrow or emotion; affect deeply.
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to utter or tell.
to crack jokes.
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to cause to make a cracking sound.
to crack one's knuckles.
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to damage, weaken, etc..
The new evidence against him cracked his composure.
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to make mentally unsound.
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to make (the voice) harsh or unmanageable.
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to solve; decipher.
to crack a murder case.
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Informal. to break into (a safe, vault, etc.).
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Chemistry. to subject to the process of cracking, as in the distillation of petroleum.
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Informal. to open and drink (a bottle of wine, liquor, beer, etc.).
noun
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cracks
plural
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a break without complete separation of parts; fissure.
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a slight opening, as between boards in a floor or wall, or between a door and its doorpost.
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a sudden, sharp noise, as of something breaking.
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the snap of or as of a whip.
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a resounding blow.
He received a terrific crack on the head when the branch fell.
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Informal. a witty or cutting remark; wisecrack.
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a break or change in the flow or tone of the voice.
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Informal. opportunity; chance; try.
Give him first crack at the new job.
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a flaw or defect.
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Also called rock. Slang. pellet-size pieces of highly purified cocaine, prepared with other ingredients for smoking, and known to be especially potent and addicting.
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Masonry. check.
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a mental defect or deficiency.
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a shot, as with a rifle.
At the first crack, the deer fell.
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a moment; instant.
He was on his feet again in a crack.
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Slang. a burglary, especially an instance of housebreaking.
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Chiefly British. a person or thing that excels in some respect.
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Slang: Vulgar. the vulva.
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Chiefly Scot. conversation; chat.
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British Dialect. boasting; braggadocio.
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Archaic. a burglar.
adjective
adverb
verb phrase
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crack on
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(of a sailing vessel) to sail in high winds under sails that would normally be furled.
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(of a power vessel) to advance at full speed in heavy weather.
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crack down to take severe or stern measures, especially in enforcing obedience to laws or regulations.
The police are starting to crack down on local drug dealers.
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crack up
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to suffer a mental or emotional breakdown.
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to crash, as in an automobile or airplane.
He skidded into the telephone pole and cracked up.
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to wreck an automobile, airplane, or other vehicle.
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to laugh or to cause to laugh unrestrainedly.
That story about the revolving door really cracked me up. Ed cracked up, too, when he heard it.
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crack off to cause (a piece of hot glass) to fall from a blowpipe or punty.
idioms
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crack a book, to open a book in order to study or read.
He hardly ever cracked a book.
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get cracking,
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to begin moving or working; start.
Let's get cracking on these dirty dishes!
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to work or move more quickly.
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crack a smile, to smile.
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crack wise, to wisecrack.
We tried to be serious, but he was always cracking wise.
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fall through the cracks, to be overlooked, missed, or neglected: Also slip between the cracks.
In any inspection process some defective materials will fall through the cracks.
verb
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to break or cause to break without complete separation of the parts
the vase was cracked but unbroken
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to break or cause to break with a sudden sharp sound; snap
to crack a nut
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to make or cause to make a sudden sharp sound
to crack a whip
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to cause (the voice) to change tone or become harsh or (of the voice) to change tone, esp to a higher register; break
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informal to fail or cause to fail
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to yield or cause to yield
to crack under torture
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(tr) to hit with a forceful or resounding blow
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(tr) to break into or force open
to crack a safe
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(tr) to solve or decipher (a code, problem, etc)
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informal (tr) to tell (a joke, etc)
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to break (a molecule) into smaller molecules or radicals by the action of heat, as in the distillation of petroleum
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(tr) to open (esp a bottle) for drinking
let's crack another bottle
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dialect (intr) to chat; gossip
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informal (tr) to achieve (esp in the phrase crack it )
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informal (tr) to find or catch
to crack a wave in surfing
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informal to break into a smile
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informal to disguise one's discomfort, etc; put on a bold front
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informal to assert one's authority, esp to put people under pressure to work harder
noun
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a sudden sharp noise
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a break or fracture without complete separation of the two parts
a crack in the window
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a narrow opening or fissure
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informal a resounding blow
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a physical or mental defect; flaw
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a moment or specific instant
the crack of day
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a broken or cracked tone of voice, as a boy's during puberty
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informal (often foll by at) an attempt; opportunity to try
he had a crack at the problem
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slang a gibe; wisecrack; joke
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slang a person that excels
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dialect a talk; chat
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slang a processed form of cocaine hydrochloride used as a stimulant. It is highly addictive
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Also: craic. informal fun; informal entertainment
the crack was great in here last night
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obsolete a burglar or burglary
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the very instant that the sun rises
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very early in the morning
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informal a fair chance or opportunity
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doomsday; the end of the world; the Day of Judgment
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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cracksimple
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crackssimple
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have crackedperfect
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has crackedperfect
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am crackingprogressive
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are crackingprogressive
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is crackingprogressive
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have been crackingperfect progressive
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has been crackingperfect progressive
Past
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crackedsimple
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had crackedperfect
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was crackingprogressive
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were crackingprogressive
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had been crackingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crack
First recorded before 1000; Middle English crak (noun), crak(k)en (verb), Old English cracian “to resound”; cognate with German krachen, Dutch kraken (verb), and German Krach, Dutch krak (noun)
Explanation
A crack is a very narrow space, chink, or opening. If your favorite mug has a crack in it, it might leak. A crack can be as thin as a pencil line, or a wider gap, like a crack where your foot gets stuck as you climb down the side of a mountain. Crack is also a verb, meaning "to split or break," and also "to give way under pressure," as when a suspect cracks after hours of being interrogated. An informal kind of crack is a joke: "That crack he made about my haircut really hurt my feelings."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Costa Rican President Laura Fernandez, who took office in May, campaigned on a promise to crack down on the wave of crime sweeping what was once Central America's safest country.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
Aerial footage showed a crack on a slope between the ocean and the highway’s southbound lane in Laguna Beach.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026
De Masi said American corporations and the U.S. government must be prepared ahead of “Q-Day”—a looming point in time when quantum computers will be powerful enough to crack today’s widely used public-key cryptography.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026
That she’s speaking out about it puts one more crack in the lie that women who are raped should carry any shame.
From Slate ● Oct. 9, 2026
I creep to the door and open it a crack.
From "Code Name Kingfisher" by Liz Kessler
The subsidy system first began to show cracks during the so-called Special Period in the early 1990s.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
Tiny grains, cracks and empty spaces can then reveal how the clay was prepared and what materials were mixed into it.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026
Here, Fennell asserts that rape culture is our culture, that patriarchy and misogyny seep through the cracks of every single surface.
From Salon ● Oct. 2, 2026
Welding cracks were identified during routine inspections and the facility is not expected to resume operations until next March.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
They couldn’t see any of the cracks or bulges that Dr. Morales had told them about.
From "I Survived the Eruption of Mount St. Helens, 1980" by Lauren Tarshis
Wide receiver Ladd McConkey, who has already fought through a cracked rib this season, is day-to-day with a foot injury.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"This man here is carved in stone and every time he gets cracked on the jaw, he falls over," Fury said.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Nasdaq recently cracked down on tiny foreign companies that were especially prone to manipulation, but it has limited scope to investigate suspicious activity by third parties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026
They said Meta may have finally cracked virtually-reality glasses with a lighter and less bulky offering.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
His words were like lightning to my system, and I sat bolt upright so fast that my shoulder cracked Elliot in the chin.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
After cracking the first, he was given a second which he also deciphered.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
Obi told AFP in an interview last month he would bring down consumer prices in part by cracking down on corruption.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Gov. Gavin Newsom last week signed legislation cracking down on the practice of luxury-car buyers in California registering cars out of state to avoid taxes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"This study really takes a novel approach for cracking therapeutic resistance in pancreatic cancer," says study co-author Ronald Evans, PhD, professor and the March of Dimes Chair in Molecular and Developmental Biology at Salk.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026
Calista’s shuffling got really loud, and she started cracking the cards on the bench between shuffles.
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
