crack-up

1 of 2

noun

1
: crash, wreck
an automobile crack-up
2
a
: a mental collapse : nervous breakdown
his wife's death brought on his crack-up

crack up

2 of 2

verb

cracked up; cracking up; cracks up

transitive verb

1
: praise, tout sense 1
wasn't all that it was cracked up to be
2
: to damage or destroy (a vehicle) by crashing
crack up a car
3
: to cause to laugh out loud
that joke really cracks him up

intransitive verb

1
: to damage or destroy a vehicle (as by losing control)
cracked up on a curve
2
: to laugh out loud

Examples of crack-up in a Sentence

Noun a crack-up required him to take a year off from work two people were injured in a serious crack-up on the interstate Verb that sports car isn't all it's cracked up to be the movie is being cracked up as the blockbuster of the summer
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
The prevailing explanation for the Ordovician Impact Spike had long been that a large body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter broke up as a result of a collision and the debris from that crack-up eventually found its way to Earth. Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 18 Sep. 2024 And all the better to make his crack-up that much more disorienting and unsettling. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 7 Oct. 2023
Verb
Not everyone is convinced, however, that community banks are what they’re cracked up to be. Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 30 Oct. 2024 Being in a boyband isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Kalia Richardson, Rolling Stone, 28 Oct. 2024 See all Example Sentences for crack-up 

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

circa 1926, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1829, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of crack-up was in 1829

Dictionary Entries Near crack-up

Cite this Entry

“Crack-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crack-up. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

Kids Definition

crack-up

1 of 2 noun
ˈkrak-ˌəp

crack up

2 of 2 verb
ˈkrak-ˈəp
1
: praise sense 1, tout
it's not all it's cracked up to be
2
: to cause or have a crack-up
crack up a car

More from Merriam-Webster on crack-up

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