crack 1 of 3

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
5
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
3
4
5
6

crack

3 of 3

adjective

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
Yet the reality that’s been hammered home is that the Lakers still haven’t cracked the other half of the code, the offensive side of the ball, where their 94 points Tuesday were enough — but far from optimal. Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2025 But in the final moments of the trailer, Belly cracks open the door at the house their families shared at Cousins Beach and finds Conrad standing there. Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 24 Apr. 2025
Noun
Is there any cosmetic damage like scratches or cracks? Simon Hill, Wired News, 22 Apr. 2025 Maryland has long been a Democratic stronghold, yet cracks have been growing more visible over the years. Marc Lester, Baltimore Sun, 22 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for crack
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crack
Verb
  • Since Combs' last pretrial court appearance on April 18, only a handful of entries have popped up in the New York federal case.
    KiMi Robinson, USA Today, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Duolingo — Shares popped 4% following Morgan Stanley’s initiation at overweight.
    Sean Conlon, CNBC, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Are there really women out there who want Badgley to put on his Joe Goldberg cap and choke them?
    Judy Berman, Time, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Southern California has been choked by smog since the mass adoption of the automobile.
    Terry Castleman, Los Angeles Times, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The generous release of Tahoe 100M is a potential turning point for deciphering cancer vulnerabilities at scale and can trigger an open-source data sharing momentum in cancer research.
    Amelia Palermo, Forbes.com, 25 Apr. 2025
  • The Dallas Cowboys are one of those teams deciphering between the talents in the final stack of players, as owner and general manager Jerry Jones said on Tuesday that this is the latest that the team has ever gone without having their board in place.
    Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • The actor, then 20, was at home that day with his family in Pompano Beach, Fla., when detectives knocked on the door.
    Brianne Tracy, People.com, 2 May 2025
  • And in Game 5, Doncic injured his back, James knocked knees and Reaves struggled with his outside shot and ability to create separation off drives.
    Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2025
Verb
  • His presence is part of the peculiar riddle that Djokovic, who turns 38 on May 22, has been trying to solve for going on two years now.
    Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2025
  • The hedge-fund collapses and Russian debt default in the 1998 financial panic and the U.S. sovereign-debt standoff in 2011 also did not feel as if they had been solved at the point the stock market started rebounding.
    Michael Santoli, CNBC, 26 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow was popular enough that fans wanted a solo story, but the studio didn't bother to make it until her character was already dead in the major timeline, then skipped the theatrical release, which Johansson sued them about.
    Elizabeth Logan, Glamour, 19 Apr. 2025
  • The Mavericks defeated the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night in Sacramento, 120-106; the Mavs led by more than 20 points in the first half, and the Kings never bothered to muster much of a run to make this interesting.
    Mac Engel, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 17 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • But without an enduring settlement for Ukraine, this would result in a long-term fissure in the Transatlantic alliance and even NATO.
    Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 24 Apr. 2025
  • Image The fissures can be felt in public life and in synagogues.
    Anemona Hartocollis, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • With a blow of his whistle, all sorts of words applied: pandemonium, euphoria, mania.
    Simon Hughes, New York Times, 28 Apr. 2025
  • What’s 42 to 43? Into a black place of great blows from the little mountains from the sea came.
    John Berryman, New Yorker, 28 Apr. 2025

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crack.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crack. Accessed 5 May. 2025.

More from Merriam-Webster on crack

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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