crack a crust

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English

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Verb

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

  1. (UK, slang, idiomatic, obsolete) To make a living.
    Synonym: rub along
    • 1880, Arthur Hamilton, The Confessions of a Scribbler, page 80:
      Yet for all this I do not hear one giving him a good name, though there are many cracking a crust on his account.
    • 1947, Robert Briffault, New Life of Mr. Martin, page 270:
      "Cracking a tidy crust, thank you, mate," Abe said sheepishly.
    • 1997, Eric Lane, Nina Shengold, Plays for Actresses, page 585:
      BIANCA: Well, it's a cooshy enough way to crack a crust...

References

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  • John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary