crackling
Americannoun
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cracklings
plural
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the making of slight cracking sounds rapidly repeated.
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the crisp browned skin or rind of roast pork.
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Southern U.S. Usually cracklings. the crisp residue left when fat, especially hog or chicken fat, is rendered.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crackling
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:
Brushing his hand over crackling vine leaves, French winemaker Gregory Guibergia was relieved a wildfire only scorched the edge of his vineyard but he feared its smoke would ruin this year's vintage.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
Wisps of smoke rose from charred or crackling tree trunks between Le Porge and the village of Lege-Cap-Ferret to the south, AFP journalists said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
Don’t be afraid of any crackling; cumin seeds should sizzle when fried.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
But there were also thousands of local families gathered at the stadium with a crackling sense of anticipation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Haven’t heard it myself, but she swears there’s a crackling in the grass like tiny bolts of lightning traveling from blade to blade.
From "Worth" by A. LaFaye
Flag isn’t like the Baxters’ other animals: He can’t pull a plow, track a bear, provide milk, or become a plateful of cracklings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 23, 2026
Jaíne again turns to her native country of Brazil, making plantain gnocchi, pan-fried in duck fat with cracklings and orange sauce.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2022
It needed more than citrus jam and limp, chicken-skin cracklings to make it interesting.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 20, 2018
If there are fresh cracklings, this item moves to the top of my list.
From New York Times ● May 22, 2018
A few feet away, Aru heard the cracklings of a television coming from inside a tollbooth.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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.
