Main Entry:

¹crack

Pronunciation:

\ˈkrak\

Function:

verb

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 apart3: fail : as a: to lose control or effectiveness under pressure —often used with up b: 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 uncharacteristically5 a: to impair seriously or irreparably : wreck <crack an opponent's courage> b: to destroy the tone of (a voice) c: disorder, craze d: 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)

— crack wise

: to make a wisecrack