crack up
Britishverb
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(intr) to break into pieces
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informal (intr) to undergo a physical or mental breakdown
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informal (tr) to present or report, esp in glowing terms
it's not all it's cracked up to be
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informal to laugh or cause to laugh uproariously or uncontrollably
noun
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Suffer an emotional breakdown, become insane, as in He might crack up under the strain . This usage alludes to the result of cracking one's skull; from the early 1600s to crack alone was used in this way. [ Slang ; early 1900s]
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Damage or wreck a vehicle or vessel. For example, I'm always afraid that I'll crack up the car .
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Experience a crash, as in We cracked up on the freeway in the middle of the ice storm .
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Also, crack someone up . Burst or cause to burst out laughing, as in The audience cracked up , or That joke really cracked me up . [ Slang ; c. 1940] Also see break up , def. 6. All of these expressions derive from crack in the sense of “break into pieces” or “collapse,” a usage dating from the late 1600s. Also see cracked up .
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.
It's not clear what made him crack up, but we bet Paul Giamatti had something to do with it.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2024
Contestants try to get each other to crack up; the last one with a straight face wins.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
Developers first drill a well and inject high-pressured water to crack up underground rock.
From Scientific American ● Feb. 14, 2023
Tyler Anderson would also crack up at Horton’s meticulous method, back when the Dodgers pitcher was on the coach’s first several teams at Oregon from 2009 to 2011.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2022
Most of the other kids had to wear cheap plastic mittens that would start to crack up after two or three snowball fights or one real cold day.
From "The Watsons Go to Birmingham" by Christopher Paul Curtis
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