crack

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Pronunciation 1.2 Etymology 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Usage notes 1.3.2 Synonyms 1.3.3 Translations 1.4 Verb 1.4.1 Translations 1.5 Adjective 1.6 Related terms 2 Finnish 2.1 Noun 2.1.1 Declension 3 Spanish 3.1 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /kræk/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -æk

[edit] Etymology

Old English cracian (meaning resonance), from Proto-Germanic *krakojan, probably onomatopoeic.

[edit] Noun

crack (plural cracks)

1. A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

   A large crack had formed in the roadway.

2. A narrow opening.

   We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall.

   Open the door a crack.

3. A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

   I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle.

4. A potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.
   • Whitney Houston:

     I wouldn't use it, if I was going to use it I can afford real cocaine. Crack is wack.

5. (onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.

   The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles.

6. (onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.

   The crack of the bat hitting the ball.

7. (informal) An opportunity to attempt something.

   I'd like to take a crack at that game.

8. (vulgar, slang) vagina.

   I'm so horny even the crack of dawn isn't safe!

9. (vulgar) The space between the buttocks.

   Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing.

10. (Scottish, common in lowland Scotland and Ulster) Conviviality; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humourous storytelling; good company.

    The crack was guid.

    Thon was guid crack.

    He/she is quare good crack.

    The party was great crack.

11. (Geordie, Scots, Liverpudlian) Business/events

    What's the crack?

12. (computing) A program, password or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.
13. (Cumbrian, elsewhere throughout the North of the UK) a meaningful chat.
14. (Irish, informal, Liverpudlian) good fun. (See usage note re Scots sense).
    • 2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury 2007, p. 10:

      By the time we've got a good drunk on us there'll be more crack in this valley than the night I pissed on the electric fence!

15. (Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.

[edit] Usage notes

• (Scots language, common in lowland Scotland and Ulster, conviviality): In the last few decades the word has been adopted into Gaelic; as there is no "k" in the Irish language the spelling craic has been devised.

[edit] Synonyms

• (vulgar: space between the buttocks): bum crack (UK), arse crack (UK), ass crack (US)
• (cocaine that is heat-altered at the moment of inhalation): crack cocaine

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

to crack (third-person singular simple present cracks, present participle cracking, simple past and past participle cracked)

1. (intransitive) To form cracks.

   It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack.

2. (intransitive) To break apart under pressure.

   When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked.

3. (intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

   Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.

4. (intransitive) To yield under interrogation.

   When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked.

5. (intransitive) To make a cracking sound.

   The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.

6. (intransitive, of a voice) To change rapidly in register.

   His voice cracked with emotion.

7. (intransitive, of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.

   His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen.

8. (intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.

   "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked.

9. (computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.

   That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.

10. (transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.

    The ball cracked the window.

11. (transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.

    You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.

12. (transitive) To strike forcefully.

    She cracked him over the head with her handbag.

13. (transitive) To open slightly.

    Could you please crack the window?

14. (transitive) To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative)

    They managed to crack him on the third day.

15. (transitive) To solve a difficult problem. (Figurative, from cracking a nut.)

    I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.

16. (transitive) To overcome a security system or a component.

    It took a minute to crack the lock, three minutes to crack the security system, and about twenty minutes to crack the safe.

    They finally cracked the code.

17. (transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.
    • 2001: Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians

      Hershell cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit that drove Inez crazy....

18. (transitive, chemistry, informal) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.

    Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700 °C.

19. (transitive)(informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.

    I'd love to crack open a beer.

20. (transitive) To tell (a joke).

[edit] Translations

[edit] Adjective

crack (not comparable)

1. Highly trained and competent.

   Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case.

[edit] Related terms

bumcrack crack a crib crack baby crack down cracked cracker cracker-jack crack house crazed (exhibiting fine-line cracks)

crack kills crack of dawn crack on crack seed crack up crack whore what's the crack wisecrack

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[edit] Finnish

[edit] Noun

crack

1. crack (variety of cocaine)

[edit] Declension

Declension of crack (type risti) singular plural nominative crack crackit genitive crackin crackien partitive crackia crackeja accusative crack crackin crackit inessive crackissa crackeissa elative crackista crackeista illative crackiin crackeihin adessive crackilla crackeilla ablative crackilta crackeilta allative crackille crackeille essive crackina crackeina translative crackiksi crackeiksi instructive – crackein abessive crackitta crackeitta comitative – crackeineen

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[edit] Spanish

[edit] Noun

crack m. (plural cracks)

1. crack (variety of cocaine)
2. excellent sportsman