crack 1 of 3

verb

ˈkrak How to pronounce crack (audio)
Definition of cracknext
1
as in to pop
to break suddenly with an explosive sound the tree branch unexpectedly cracked under our weight

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance
2
as in to choke
to yield to mental or emotional stress after hours of tough questioning the suspect finally cracked and blurted out a confession

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in to decipher
to change (as a secret message) from code into ordinary language the United States military used the Navajo language as a code during World War II, and the enemy never cracked it

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in to knock
to deliver a blow to (someone or something) usually in a strong vigorous manner cracked the bow of the ship with a champagne bottle

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in to solve
to find an answer for through reasoning I've been mulling this riddle, but I just can't crack it

Synonyms & Similar Words
6
as in to bother
to cause to go insane or as if insane cracked by years in solitary confinement, the prisoner could only maunder incoherently

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

crack

2 of 3

noun

1
as in fissure
an irregular usually narrow break in a surface created by pressure a pebble struck the car's windshield and left a spidery crack in it

Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in blow
a hard strike with a part of the body or an instrument a disciplinary crack on the hand with a ruler was once common in schoolrooms

Synonyms & Similar Words
3
as in bang
a loud explosive sound the tree fell with a sharp crack

Synonyms & Similar Words
4
as in attempt
an effort to do or accomplish something this is my first crack at painting

Synonyms & Similar Words
5
as in joke
something said or done to cause laughter a whispered crack made the whole back row start laughing

Synonyms & Similar Words
6
as in nut
a person of odd or whimsical habits that conspiracy theorist has been labeled a crack by the ballistics experts

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

crack

3 of 3

adjective

as in skilled
having or showing exceptional knowledge, experience, or skill in a field of endeavor known as one of the college's crack tennis players

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of crack
Verb
The bigger concern is a shortcut that cracks an entire family of mathematical problems at once, and with it every system built on them. — Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 15 Oct. 2026 The palm was still there, cracked in its roots, leaning at a crazy angle, its top awry. — Gerald R. Hunter, Outdoor Life, 15 Oct. 2026
Noun
In an effort to ensure instances of true neglect don’t fall through the cracks, state laws typically use vague language. — Jennifer L. Brinkley, The Conversation, 19 Oct. 2026 Instead, the moon has a single-plate body meaning its outer shell is a single piece only broken by faults or other such cracks created by the moon contracting. — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 19 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for crack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crack
  1. pop
  2. choke
  3. decipher
  4. knock
  5. solve
  6. bother
  7. fissure
  8. blow
Verb
  • The $11 million spread is listed with Wade Weathers and Meg Kauffman at LandVest Christie’s International Real Estate and has come to market shortly after Vermont’s most expensive home popped up for sale.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Kyle Tucker popped up to center, and Teoscar Hernandez struck out on a ball off the plate by about two and a half feet.
    — Ian Miller OutKick, FOXNews.com, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of pop
Verb
  • Bill Snyder’s second-greatest football achievement as Kansas State’s legendary head coach, after magically transforming the nation’s most moribund program into a national contender, was to choke the life from his school’s biggest rivalry game.
    — Blair Kerkhoff, Kansas City Star, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Among those arrested were individuals accused of choking their partners and assaulting their children, the sheriff’s office said.
    — Tanya Babbar, Houston Chronicle, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of choke
Verb
  • Bahdanau was working with artificial neural networks, which had already shown promise in pattern-recognition tasks such as deciphering handwriting and identifying objects in photos.
    — Quanta Magazine, Quanta Magazine, 12 Oct. 2026
  • In addition to developing better medicines or perfumes, deciphering the mirror images of molecules can help scientists understand the chemical architecture of life, said chemist Holden Thorp, editor-in-chief of the journal Science.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of decipher
Verb
  • Nantz tried to knock the ball from Watt, but hit his wrist hard on the football and immediately grabbed his hand.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 22 Oct. 2026
  • But several people who played key roles in knocking the two candidates off the ballot have close ties to the congressman’s political operation.
    — Jake Sheridan, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of knock
Verb
  • Separate nozzles also don't solve the problems of bonding incompatible materials or managing different printing temperatures.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Throw in a third massive object, though, and the math gets ridiculously more complicated and difficult to solve.
    — Phil Plait, Scientific American, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of solve
Verb
  • Gee, who used to pop into fraternity parties unannounced to keep tabs on them, said he is not bothered by the reintegration of the three formerly rogue organizations.
    — Brittany Shammas, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026
  • This is a dense picture—there’s almost too much to unpack, if you can be bothered to care about any of it.
    — Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of bother
Noun
  • In 1999, Glück imagined a creation story of sorts, describing small worlds that appeared in the fissures of a larger, shattered one.
    — Hannah Goldfield, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026
  • The research reveals a fissure between how brand marketers measure the impact of personalization and how consumers experience its value.
    — Arthur Zaczkiewicz, Footwear News, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of fissure
Noun
  • Now, in yet another blow to national self-esteem, the ex-head of Germany’s foreign intelligence agency, the BND, has been arrested on charges of exploiting state secrets.
    — The Week UK, TheWeek, 17 Oct. 2026
  • The pro-Western opposition parties won big Saturday in the Czech Republic’s vote to fill one-third of the seats in Parliament’s upper house, the Senate, handing a blow to the ruling coalition led by Prime Minister Andrej Babiš.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of blow

Phrases Containing crack

Browse Nearby Words

crabwise
crack
crackbrain
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crack. Accessed 24 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on crack

Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about crack

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of puissant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Can' vs. 'May'

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

The Words of the Week - Oct. 23

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All