Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary - crack

I. [c red]VERB USES (cracks, cracking, cracked) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. If something hard cracks, or if you crack it, it becomes slightly damaged, with lines appearing on its surface. A gas main had cracked under my neighbour’s garage and gas had seeped into our homes... Remove the dish from the oven, crack the salt crust and you will find the skin just peels off the fish. VERB: V, V n 2. If something cracks, or if you crack it, it makes a sharp sound like the sound of a piece of wood breaking. Thunder cracked in the sky... He cracked his fingers nervously. VERB: V, V n 3. If you crack a hard part of your body, such as your knee or your head, you hurt it by accidentally hitting it hard against something. He cracked his head on the pavement and was knocked cold. = bang, bash VERB: V n 4. When you crack something that has a shell, such as an egg or a nut, you break the shell in order to reach the inside part. Crack the eggs into a bowl. = break VERB: V n 5. If you crack a problem or a code, you solve it, especially after a lot of thought. He has finally cracked the system after years of painstaking research. VERB: V n 6. If someone cracks, they lose control of their emotions or actions because they are under a lot of pressure. (INFORMAL) She’s calm and strong, and she is just not going to crack... VERB: V 7. If your voice cracks when you are speaking or singing, it changes in pitch because you are feeling a strong emotion. Her voice cracked and she began to cry. VERB: V 8. If you crack a joke, you tell it. He cracked jokes and talked about beer and girls. VERB: V n 9. see also cracked, cracking 10. If you say that something is not all it’s cracked up to be, you mean that it is not as good as other people have said it is. (INFORMAL) Package holidays are not always all they’re cracked up to be. PHRASE: V inflects II. [c red]NOUN AND ADJECTIVE USES (cracks) 1. A crack is a very narrow gap between two things, or between two parts of a thing. Kathryn had seen him through a crack in the curtains. = chink N-COUNT 2. If you open something such as a door, window, or curtain a crack, you open it only a small amount. He went to the door, opened it a crack, and listened. N-SING 3. A crack is a line that appears on the surface of something when it is slightly damaged. The plate had a crack in it... Hundreds of office buildings and homes developed large cracks in walls and ceilings. N-COUNT 4. A crack is a sharp sound, like the sound of a piece of wood breaking. Suddenly there was a loud crack and glass flew into the car... ‘Crack!’–The first shot rang out, hitting Paolo. N-COUNT; SOUND 5. If you have or take a crack at something, you make an attempt to do or achieve something. (INFORMAL) I should love to have a crack at the Olympia title in my last year... = go, shot N-SING: N at n/-ing 6. A crack is a slightly rude or cruel joke. When Paul made the crack about the ‘famous girl detective’, I began to suspect that he had it in for you. N-COUNT 7. Crack is a very pure form of the drug cocaine. N-UNCOUNT see also crack cocaine 8. A crack soldier or sportsman is highly trained and very skilful. ...a crack undercover police officer... ADJ: ADJ n 9. see also craic 10. If you say that someone does something at the crack of dawn, you are emphasizing that they do it very early in the morning. I often start work at the crack of dawn when there is a big order to get out. PHRASE: PHR after v c darkgreen]emphasis