cracker
Americannoun
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a thin, crisp biscuit.
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a firecracker.
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Also called cracker bonbon. a small paper roll used as a party favor, that usually contains candy, trinkets, etc., and that pops when pulled sharply at one or both ends.
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(initial capital letter) a native or inhabitant of Georgia or Florida (used as a nickname).
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Slang: Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a white person in the South, especially a poor white living in some rural parts of the southeastern U.S.
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Slang. black hat.
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braggart; boaster.
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a person or thing that cracks.
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a chemical reactor used for cracking.
adjective
noun
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a decorated cardboard tube that emits a bang when pulled apart, releasing a toy, a joke, or a paper hat
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short for firecracker
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a thin crisp biscuit, usually unsweetened
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a person or thing that cracks
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offensive another word for poor White
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slang a thing or person of notable qualities or abilities
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informal worthless; useless
Sensitive Note
The term cracker is used as a neutral nickname by inhabitants of Georgia and Florida; it is a positive term of self-reference. But when the nickname is used by outsiders, it is usually with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting by Georgians and Floridians. Cracker is always disparaging and offensive when used to refer to a poor white person in the South; the word in this sense often implies that the person is regarded as ignorant or uneducated. When used by Black people, cracker can refer to a Southern white racist, not necessarily poor or rural. See also Cracker State.
Etymology
Origin of cracker
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English craker; crack, -er 1; cracker defs. 4, 5 were perhaps originally in sense “braggart,” applied to frontiersmen of the southern American colonies in the 1760s, though subsequently given other interpretations ( corn-cracker ); cracker for def. 11 crackers “crazy,” cracked, -ers
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.
To make eating fun, we serve them chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs and crackers shaped like goldfish.
Mexico said Thursday that two naval ships delivered 814 tons of aid to Cuba, including meat, crackers and rice.
Afterward Daddy would go and check if Mama would have some soup, or maybe some crackers.
From Literature
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Maybe it’s really good cheese, paired with sturdy crackers and a favorite jam.
From Salon
Often she brought him a little box of animal crackers.
From Literature
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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.