/ English Dictionary

CRACK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of cracking something

Synonyms:

crack; cracking; fracture

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

break; breakage; breaking (the act of breaking something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A usually brief attempt

Example:

I gave it a whirl

Synonyms:

crack; fling; go; offer; pass; whirl

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

attempt; effort; endeavor; endeavour; try (earnest and conscientious activity intended to do or accomplish something)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A purified and potent form of cocaine that is smoked rather than snorted; highly addictive

Synonyms:

crack; crack cocaine; tornado

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

cocain; cocaine (a narcotic (alkaloid) extracted from coca leaves; used as a surface anesthetic or taken for pleasure; can become powerfully addictive)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A narrow opening

Example:

he opened the window a crack

Synonyms:

crack; gap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

opening (a vacant or unobstructed space that is man-made)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crack"):

blank; lacuna (a blank gap or missing part)

spark gap (the gap between two high-potential terminals)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A blemish resulting from a break without complete separation of the parts

Example:

there was a crack in the mirror

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

blemish; defect; mar (a mark or flaw that spoils the appearance of something (especially on a person's body))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crack"):

craze (a fine crack in a glaze or other surface)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Witty remark

Synonyms:

crack; quip; sally; wisecrack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

comment; input; remark (a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information)

Derivation:

crack (tell spontaneously)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A sudden sharp noise

Example:

he can hear the snap of a twig

Synonyms:

crack; cracking; snap

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

noise (sound of any kind (especially unintelligible or dissonant sound))

Sense 8

Meaning:

A long narrow opening

Synonyms:

cleft; crack; crevice; fissure; scissure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

gap; opening (an open or empty space in or between things)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crack"):

vent; volcano (a fissure in the earth's crust (or in the surface of some other planet) through which molten lava and gases erupt)

split (a lengthwise crack in wood)

slit (a narrow fissure)

rift (a narrow fissure in rock)

break; fault; faulting; fracture; geological fault; shift ((geology) a crack in the earth's crust resulting from the displacement of one side with respect to the other)

fatigue crack (a crack in metal resulting from metal fatigue)

crevasse (a deep fissure)

chink (a narrow opening as e.g. between planks in a wall)

chap (a crack in a lip caused usually by cold)

Derivation:

crack (break partially but keep its integrity)

Sense 9

Meaning:

A long narrow depression in a surface

Synonyms:

chap; crack; cranny; crevice; fissure

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

depression; impression; imprint (a concavity in a surface produced by pressing)

Sense 10

Meaning:

A chance to do something

Example:

he wanted a shot at the champion

Synonyms:

crack; shot

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("crack" is a kind of...):

chance; opportunity (a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of the highest quality

Example:

she is absolutely tops

Synonyms:

A-one; ace; crack; first-rate; super; tiptop; top-notch; topnotch; tops

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

superior (of high or superior quality or performance)

Domain usage:

colloquialism (a colloquial expression; characteristic of spoken or written communication that seeks to imitate informal speech)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break into simpler molecules by means of heat

Example:

The petroleum cracked

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

cracking (the process whereby heavy molecules of naphtha or petroleum are broken down into hydrocarbons of lower molecular weight (especially in the oil-refining process))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

break down; break up; decompose (separate (substances) into constituent elements or parts)

Cause:

crack (break into simpler molecules by means of heat)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

cracking (the process whereby heavy molecules of naphtha or petroleum are broken down into hydrocarbons of lower molecular weight (especially in the oil-refining process))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only

Example:

The glass cracked when it was heated

Synonyms:

break; check; crack

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

check; chink (make cracks or chinks in)

crack (cause to become cracked)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crack"):

crack (break partially but keep its integrity)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

The glass tubes crack

These glasses crack easily

Sense 4

Meaning:

Cause to become cracked

Example:

heat and light cracked the back of the leather chair

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Verb group:

break; check; crack (become fractured; break or crack on the surface only)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crack"):

check; chink (make cracks or chinks in)

fissure (break into fissures or fine cracks)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They crack the glass tubes

Sense 5

Meaning:

Break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension

Example:

The pipe snapped

Synonyms:

crack; snap

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

break; come apart; fall apart; separate; split up (become separated into pieces or fragments)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

Break partially but keep its integrity

Example:

The glass cracked

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

break; check; crack (become fractured; break or crack on the surface only)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crack"):

chap (crack due to dehydration)

craze (develop a fine network of cracks)

alligator (crack and acquire the appearance of alligator hide, as from weathering or improper application; of paint and varnishes)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

crack (a long narrow opening)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Pass through (a barrier)

Example:

Registrations cracked through the 30,000 mark in the county

Synonyms:

break through; crack

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

pass (go across or through)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 8

Meaning:

Tell spontaneously

Example:

crack a joke

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

narrate; recite; recount; tell (narrate or give a detailed account of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

crack (witty remark)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Hit forcefully; deal a hard blow, making a cracking noise

Example:

The teacher cracked him across the face with a ruler

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

hit (deal a blow to, either with the hand or with an instrument)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody with something

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to crack his opponent

Derivation:

cracking (the act of cracking something)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Suffer a nervous breakdown

Synonyms:

break up; collapse; crack; crack up; crock up

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

get; have; suffer; sustain (undergo (as of injuries and illnesses))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sense 11

Meaning:

Make a sharp sound

Example:

his fingers snapped

Synonyms:

crack; snap

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cracker (a party favor consisting of a paper roll (usually containing candy or a small favor) that pops when pulled at both ends)

Sense 12

Meaning:

Make a very sharp explosive sound

Example:

His gun cracked

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

go; sound (make a certain noise or sound)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

cracker (firework consisting of a small explosive charge and fuse in a heavy paper casing)

cracking (a sudden sharp noise)

Sense 13

Meaning:

Gain unauthorized access computers with malicious intentions

Example:

crack a safe

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "crack" is one way to...):

break; break in (enter someone's (virtual or real) property in an unauthorized manner, usually with the intent to steal or commit a violent act)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cracker (a programmer who cracks (gains unauthorized access to) computers, typically to do malicious things)

Credits

 Context examples: 

Significantly more water was lost from cracks and soil within fractured mountain rock during drought and gained during heavy precipitation than hydrology models show.

(Sierras Lost Water Weight, Grew Taller During Drought, NASA)

Then he flung open the window, and putting his knife through the crack in the shutters, he thrust the bar up and swung them open.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I didn’t think there was a soul in England who didn’t know Godfrey Staunton, the crack three-quarter, Cambridge, Blackheath, and five Internationals.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A lot of jobs seem to be about to flow to you, so you will need a system, lest important details fall through the cracks.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

A floating fleck of paint is thought to have cracked a window on the International Space Station.

(Australia Developing Lasers to Track, Destroy Space Junk, VOA)

The remnant of the Larsen B Ice Shelf is flowing faster, becoming increasingly fragmented and developing large cracks.

(Antarctica’s Larsen B Ice Shelf Nearing Its Final Act, NASA)

And thus she had some joke to crack upon every one: but she laughed more than all at a good king who was there.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Crack is smoked in a small glass pipe.

(Cocaine, NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse)

Presentation of this disorder can range from white streaks to brown stains and cracks or pits in the tooth enamel.

(Dental Fluorosis, NCI Thesaurus)

“It was crimson,” said he, with a shudder—“crimson with black cracks, and from every crack—but I will give you dreams, sister Mary.”

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

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