- present participle of crack.
cracking
Americannoun
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crackings
plural
adverb
adjective
idioms
adjective
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informal (prenominal) fast; vigorous (esp in the phrase a cracking pace )
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informal to start doing something quickly or do something with increased speed
adverb
noun
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The process of breaking down complex chemical compounds by heating them. Sometimes a catalyst is added to lower the amount of heat needed for the reaction. Cracking is used especially for breaking petroleum molecules into shorter molecules and to extract low-boiling fractions, such as gasoline, from petroleum.
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See also hydrocracking
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cracking
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English; see crack, -ing 1, -ing 2
Vocabulary lists containing cracking
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:
He played the role with honesty and accessibility, cracking jokes as a teen whose health condition was never mentioned in the series.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 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
In his most recent essay, Amodei reiterated cracking down on unauthorized distillation in countries, such as China, and on chip smuggling.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026
And he was also the key to cracking this case.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
The campus was impressive for what happened within its walls: chest crackings, organ transplants, molecular imagings, genetic probes, and virtually any other medical service known in the advanced world.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
All the Arctic peoples had been thrown into panic, and so had the animals, not only by the fog and the magnetic variations but by unseasonal crackings of ice and stirrings in the soil.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
I said nothing, and Leper, having said so much, went on to say more, to speak above the wind and crackings as though his story would never be finished.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
Away in the sun hay was being made and carried, with crackings of whips and distant voices.
From The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles Danvers by Mary Cholmondeley
The hurricane of Dutch and the volleys of whip crackings rise to a crescendo.
From African Camp Fires by Stewart Edward White
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
