Crack, n. 1. A
partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible
opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a
crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass.
2. Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral
sense.
My love to thee is sound, sans crack or
flaw.
Shak.
3. A sharp, sudden sound or report; the
sound of anything suddenly burst or broken; as, the crack
of a falling house; the crack of thunder; the crack
of a whip.
Will the stretch out to the crack of
doom?
Shak.
4. The tone of voice when changed at
puberty.
Though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack.
Shak.
5. Mental flaw; a touch of craziness;
partial insanity; as, he has a crack.
6. A crazy or crack-brained person.
[Obs.]
I . . . can not get the Parliament to listen to
me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector.
Addison.
7. A boast; boasting. [Obs.]
"Crack and brags." Burton. "Vainglorius
cracks." Spenser.
8. Breach of chastity. [Obs.]
Shak.
9. A boy, generally a pert, lively
boy. [Obs.]
Val. 'T is a noble child. Vir. A
crack, madam.
Shak.
10. A brief time; an instant; as, to be
with one in a crack. [Eng. & Scot. Colloq.]
11. Free conversation; friendly
chat. [Scot.]
What is crack in English? . . . A
crack is . . . a chat with a good, kindly human heart in
it.
P. P. Alexander.
Crack, a. Of superior
excellence; having qualities to be boasted of.
[Colloq.]
One of our crack speakers in the
Commons.
Dickens.
Crack, v. i. 1.
To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite
separating into parts.
By misfortune it cracked in the coling.
Boyle.
The mirror cracked from side to side.
Tennyson.
2. To be ruined or impaired; to
fail. [Collog.]
The credit . . . of exchequers cracks, when
little comes in and much goes out.
Dryden.
3. To utter a loud or sharp, sudden
sound.
As thunder when the clouds in autumn
crack.
Shak.
4. To utter vain, pompous words; to brag;
to boast; -- with of. [Archaic.]
Ethoipes of their sweet complexion
crack.
Shak.
Crack (krăk), v. t.
[imp. & p. p. Cracked (krăkt);
p. pr. & vb. n. Cracking.] [OE.
cracken, craken, to crack, break, boast, AS.
cracian, cearcian, to crack; akin to D.
kraken, G. krachen; cf. Skr. garj to rattle,
or perh. of imitative origin. Cf. Crake, Cracknel,
Creak.]
1. To break or burst, with or without
entire separation of the parts; as, to crack glass; to
crack nuts.
2. To rend with grief or pain; to affect
deeply with sorrow; hence, to disorder; to distract; to
craze.
O, madam, my old heart is cracked.
Shak.
He thought none poets till their brains were
cracked.
Roscommon.
3. To cause to sound suddenly and
sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip.
4. To utter smartly and sententiously;
as, to crack a joke. B. Jonson.
5. To cry up; to extol; -- followed by
up. [Low]
To crack a bottle, to open the bottle
and drink its contents. -- To crack a
crib, to commit burglary. [Slang] --
To crack on, to put on; as, to crack
on more sail, or more steam. [Colloq.]