Etymology: Middle English crakken, from Old English cracian; akin to Old High German chrahhōn to resound
Date: before 12th century
intransitive verb1: to make a very sharp explosive sound <the whip cracks through the air> 2: to break, split, or snap apart 3:fail: as a: to lose control or effectiveness under pressure —often used with upb: to fail in tone <his voice cracked> 4: to go or travel at good speed —usually used with on<the steamboat cracked on>transitive verb1 a: to break so that fissures appear on the surface <crack a mirror>b: to break with a sudden sharp sound <crack nuts> 2: to tell especially suddenly or strikingly <crack a joke> 3: to strike with a sharp noise :rap<then cracks him over the head><cracked a two-run homer in the fifth — New York Times> 4 a (1): to open (as a bottle) for drinking (2): to open (a book) for studying b: to puzzle out and expose, solve, or reveal the mystery of <crack a code>c: to break into <crack a safe>d: to open slightly <crack the throttle>e: to break through (as a barrier) so as to gain acceptance or recognition f: to show or begin showing (a smile) especially reluctantly or uncharacteristically 5 a: to impair seriously or irreparably :wreck<crack an opponent's courage>b: to destroy the tone of (a voice) c:disorder, crazed: to interrupt sharply or abruptly <the criticism cracked our complacency> 6: to cause to make a sharp noise <cracks his knuckles> 7 a (1): to subject (hydrocarbons) to cracking (2): to produce by cracking <cracked gasoline>b: to break up (chemical compounds) into simpler compounds by means of heat
— crack the whip: to adopt or apply an authoritative, tyrannical, or threatening approach or policy (as in demanding harder work from employees)