crack

verb \ ˈkrak \

Updated on: 11 Apr 2018

Definition of crack

intransitive verb

1 : to make a very sharp explosive sound

The whip cracks through the air.

2 : to break, split, or snap apart

The statue cracked when she dropped it.

3 : fail: such as

a : to lose control or effectiveness under pressure —often used with up

The stress was so great that she started to crack 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 verb

1 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 eighth

4 a (1) : to open (something, such 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 (something, such as a barrier) so as to gain acceptance or recognition

… on track to crack Hollywood after landing a big screen role.
—Ed Gleave and Peter Dyke

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, craze

Worry had cracked his otherwise cheerful disposition.

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)

The team needs a coach who isn't afraid to crack the whip.

— crack wise

: to make a wisecrack

The comedian often cracked wise about prominent politicians.

See crack defined for English-language learners

See crack defined for kids

Examples of crack in a Sentence

The hailstones were big enough to crack some windows.
He cracked his collarbone in a skiing accident.
The mirror cracked when she dropped it.
Workers cracked the large rock into three pieces so it could be moved.
The bird cracked the seed on a tree branch.
a tool used for cracking nuts
He cracked open the eggs.
Someone cracked him over the head with a beer bottle.
The baby cracked her chin pretty hard when she fell.
He fell and cracked his elbow on the ice.

Recent Examples of crack from the Web

Kapler appeared to crack a smile before handing the ball to reliever Adam Morgan, who needed just three pitches to strikeout Justin Bour and end the inning.

— bob brookover, Philly.com, "Doug Pederson's popularity explosion with Phillies fans something for Gabe Kapler to see," 5 Apr. 2018
DiVincenzo joins them in the rare club of players to crack 30 points while also shooting better than 66 percent from the floor in a Final Four game.

— eddie pells, BostonGlobe.com, "Donte DiVincenzo leads Villanova to NCAA title," 3 Apr. 2018
None of the industry’s biggest streamers have anything on the scale of an awards ceremony like this on their rosters already; hell, Netflix and Hulu still haven’t even managed to crack late night television.

— yohana desta, HWD, "The Golden Globes Need a New Home—Will a Streaming Platform Make a Bid?," 3 Apr. 2018
To crack the case, the museum turned to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

— New York Times, "The F.B.I. and the Mystery of the Mummy’s Head," 2 Apr. 2018
Amber Portwood‘s relationship with ex-fiancé Matt Baier seems to finally be cracking under pressure.

— alexia fernandez, PEOPLE.com, "Did Teen Mom's Matt Baier Really Admit to Physically Abusing Amber Portwood?," 30 Mar. 2018
That is roughly equivalent to a Major League Baseball player hitting .275, good enough to crack the starting lineup, perhaps, but no all-star.

— mike bird, WSJ, "Former CEO of Failed U.K. Bank Sticks to Finance, Cricket Postcrisis," 30 Mar. 2018
If an egg does happen to crack during baking, any leakage is contained inside the pan, away from the other eggs.

— maya wilson, Anchorage Daily News, "For perfect hard-cooked eggs, turn off the stove and fire up the oven," 29 Mar. 2018
The broadcast goes inside the methodical investigation used to crack the brutal trafficking gang that used Beck to raise money.

— CBS News, "Ashton Kutcher's mission to save children from sex traffickers," 28 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crack.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of crack

Middle English crakken, from Old English cracian; akin to Old High German chrahhōn to resound

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

crack Synonyms

crack

noun

Definition of crack

1 a : a loud roll or peal

a crack of thunder

b : a sudden sharp noise

the crack of rifle fire

2 : a sharp witty remark : quip

3 a : a narrow break : fissure

a crack in the ice

b : a narrow opening

Leave the door open a crack.

cracks between floorboards

—used figuratively in phrases like fall through the cracks to describe one that has been improperly or inadvertently ignored or left out

a player who fell through the cracks in the college draft

Children slipping through the cracks of available youth services.

4 a : a weakness or flaw caused by decay, age, or deficiency : unsoundness

b : a broken tone of the voice

c : crackpot

5 : moment, instant

the crack of dawn

6 : housebreaking, burglary

7 : a sharp resounding blow

gave him a crack on the head

8 : an attempt or opportunity to do something

her first crack at writing a novel

got first crack at the job opening

9 or crack cocaine : a potent form of cocaine that is obtained by treating the hydrochloride of cocaine with sodium bicarbonate to create small chips used illicitly for smoking

See crack defined for English-language learners

Examples of crack in a Sentence

The crack runs all the way from the top of the wall to the bottom.
an old patio with grass growing up through the cracks
The vase has a few fine cracks, but it is still usable.
I could see them through the crack in the doorway.
Light came through the cracks in the walls of the barn.

Recent Examples of crack from the Web

With cracks in the fan base emerging, Stoger was quick to encourage solidarity across all levels of the club as Dortmund move to within just six games of the end of their Bundesliga season.

— SI.com, "Peter Stoger Urges Borussia Dortmund to Win Fans Back Following Bayern Mauling," 7 Apr. 2018
The enormous crack in southwestern Kenya appeared March 19 and measures about 50 feet wide and several miles along, Face2Face Africa and other news sources reported.

— laura geggel, Washington Post, "A huge crack provides evidence that Africa is slowly splitting into two," 7 Apr. 2018
America has not seen the like since Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev arrived in September 1959 in a Tupolev 114 with cracks in the fuselage to knock around the country for 13 days, putting a relatable human face on America’s most dangerous enemy.

— karl vick, Time, "The Saudi Crown Prince Thinks He Can Transform the Middle East. Should We Believe Him?," 5 Apr. 2018
On March 26, police were dispatched to a York Road residence after its homeowner discovered a BB-sized crack in a window.

— john benson, cleveland.com, "Drunk, sleeping man arrested for disorderly conduct: Parma Heights Police Blotter," 5 Apr. 2018
Even so, some political observers are seeing cracks in the speaker’s armor.

— sheryl gay stolberg, New York Times, "Can Paul Ryan Be Defeated? Maybe Not, but His Race Is ‘a Circus’," 4 Apr. 2018
The transaction highlighted the emerging cracks in the IPO Industrial Complex.

— erin griffith, WIRED, "Spotify Shunned an IPO. Now It's Just Another Public Company," 3 Apr. 2018
Potholes develop during cycles of freeze and thaw, which lets water seep into cracks in the pavement and expand, causing asphalt to deteriorate under the weight of passing cars.

— laura crimaldi, BostonGlobe.com, "Car damaged by a pothole? The city might pay you back," 1 Apr. 2018
Harmful vapors are known to seep into residential basements as well as commercial buildings, sometimes after traveling horizontally through soil and rock from a distant pollution site, then entering a building through cracks in the foundation.

— bill laitner, Detroit Free Press, "Toxic air all but gone in Franklin after tank of cancer-causing solvent found," 31 Mar. 2018

Origin and Etymology of crack

see ¹crack

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

crack Synonyms

Synonyms

bang, bash, bat, beat, belt, blow, bop, box, buffet, bust, chop, clap, clip, clout, cuff, dab, fillip, hack, haymaker, hit, hook, knock, lash, lick, pelt, plump, poke, pound, punch, rap, slam, slap, slug, smack, smash, sock, spank, stinger, stripe, stroke, swat, swipe, switch, thud, thump, thwack, wallop, welt, whack, wham, whop (also whap);

body blow, hand, kick, knee, left, one-two, rabbit punch, right, right-hander, roundhouse, shiver, sidewinder, sucker punch, swing, uppercut;

cruncher, kayo, knockdown, knockout, KO;

battering, beating, bludgeoning, clobbering, cudgeling (or cudgelling), drubbing, hammering, lambasting, licking, pasting, pounding, pummeling (also pummelling), thrashing;

flogging, walloping, whip, whipping;

crack

adjective

Definition of crack

: of superior excellence or ability

a crack marksman

See crack defined for English-language learners

Examples of crack in a Sentence

The company has a crack sales force.
known as one of the college's crack tennis players

Recent Examples of crack from the Web

Follow along with The Post's crack whip count on where Senate Republicans stand on the revised health-care plan.

— paige winfield cunningham, Washington Post, "The Health 202: Trump administration tells moderates to trust it on health care," 14 July 2017

Origin and Etymology of crack

see ¹crack

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1793

See Words from the same year

crack Synonyms

Synonyms

accomplished, ace, adept, complete, consummate, crackerjack, educated, experienced, expert, good, great, master, masterful, masterly, practiced (also practised), proficient, skilled, skillful, versed, veteran, virtuoso;

Antonyms

amateur, amateurish, inexperienced, inexpert, jackleg, unprofessional, unseasoned, unskilled, unskillful;

Near Antonyms

incapable, incompetent, inept, unfit, unfitted, unqualified, weak;

artless, crude, rude;

ineffective, ineffectual, inefficient;

talentless, ungifted, untalented;

ignorant, unschooled, untaught, untrained, untutored;

beginning, green, inexperienced, new, raw, unseasoned, untested, untried, would-be;

primitive, rough, unpolished;

awkward, clumsy, heavy-handed;

gifted, talented;

polished, refined;

effective, effectual, efficient, workmanlike;

able, capable, competent, fit, fitted, qualified;

educated, knowledgeable, schooled, taught, trained, tutored;

all-around (also all-round), well-rounded;

multiskilled, multitalented;

CRACK Defined for English Language Learners

crack

verb

Definition of crack for English Language Learners

: to break (something) so that there are lines in its surface but it is usually not separated into pieces
: to hit or press (something) so hard that it breaks apart or opens suddenly
: to hit (someone or something) hard and usually suddenly

crack

noun

Definition of crack for English Language Learners

: a thin line in the surface of something that is broken but not separated into pieces
: a very narrow space or opening between two things or two parts of something
: a sudden loud, sharp sound

crack

adjective

Definition of crack for English Language Learners

: very good : of excellent quality or ability

CRACK Defined for Kids

crack

verb \ ˈkrak \

Definition of crack for Students

cracked; cracking

1 : to break or cause to break with a sudden sharp sound

crack an egg

2 : to break often without completely separating into parts

The ice cracked in several places.

3 : to make or cause to make a sound as if breaking

crack a whip

4 : to open a small amount

crack a window

5 : to tell (a joke) especially in a clever way

6 : to lose self-control

He cracked under the strain.

7 : to change in tone quality

My voice cracked from emotion.

8 : to strike or receive a sharp blow

… I bounced sideways and cracked my head on the half-open window …
—Jack Gantos, Joey Pigza Loses Control

9 : solve

I cracked the code.

— crack up

1 : to have a reputation as a result of praise

The show wasn't as good as it was cracked up to be.

2 : to damage or destroy (a vehicle) by crashing

3 : to laugh or cause to laugh

Her costume cracked me up.

crack

noun

Definition of crack for Students

1 : a narrow break or opening

a crack in the glass

2 : a sudden sharp noise

a crack of thunder

3 : a sharp clever remark

4 : a broken tone of the voice

5 : the beginning moment

I awoke at the crack of dawn.

6 : a sharp blow

7 : ²attempt

It was my first crack at writing.

crack

adjective

Definition of crack for Students

: of high quality or ability

crack troops

Medical Dictionary

crack

noun, often attributive \ ˈkrak \

medical Definition of crack

: a potent form of cocaine that is obtained by treating the hydrochloride of cocaine with sodium bicarbonate to create small chips used illicitly usually for smoking