| 释义 |
▪ I. cracking, vbl. n.|ˈkrækɪŋ|
[f. crack v. + -ing1.]
The action of the verb crack.
1. The emission of a sharp sound as in the act of breaking or bursting, or the noise so emitted.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 452/114 Þoruȝ noyse of þe crakeȝingue þe guode man i-heorde: þat þut treo fel. c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 116 Þe first cors come with crakkyng of trumpes. c1400Destr. Troy xxi. 8720 Wryngyng of hondes, Clamur & crie, crakkyng of fyngurs. 1535Coverdale Eccl. vii. 6 The laughinge of fooles is like y⊇ crackynge of thornes vnder a pott. 1658Evelyn Diary (1827) IV. 203 Eeles do..stir at the cracking of thunder. 1817T. L. Peacock Melincourt xxxviii, The cracking of whips. 1885Manch. Exam. 23 June 5/3 The cracking of rifles was..heard.
†2. Exaggerated talking, bragging, boasting. Obs. or dial.
c1440Promp. Parv. 100 Crakynge, or boste, jactancia, arrogancia. 1462Paston Lett. No. 452 II. 103 Hys gret crakyng and bost. 1564Rastell Confut. Jewell's Serm. 34 b, So much crakyng, so litle performyng. 1655Capel Tentations 62 The Cracking of a coward before he loseth the Victory. 1692Christ Exalted §147 Let us learn to know our selves..without any cracking.
3. The breaking of anything hard and hollow; bursting or fissuring; partially fracturing.
c1400Destr. Troy 5852 Crakkyng of cristis, crusshyng of speiris. 1483Cath. Angl. 80 A Crakkynge, nucliacio. 1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland xxviii. 130 When they [reindeer] walk, the joints of their feet make a noise like the clashing of flints, or cracking of nuts. 1735J. Price Stone-Br. Thames 5 Keep the whole Frame compacted together from any cracking or opening. 1811A. T. Thomson Lond. Disp. (1818) p. xcii, They..can sustain sudden alternations of heat and cold without cracking. a1839Praed Poems (1864) I. 54 Cracking of craniums was the rage.
4. Damaging (of credit, reputation, etc.); a flaw.
1587Golding De Mornay xxv. (1617) 417 A cracking of his credit. 1633Ames Agst. Cerem. Pref. 9 Even the courses of the strictest saynts have ther crackings: Peter was a good man, and yet dissembled.
5. attrib.
1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. viii. 192 Larger pebbles, very likely used as cracking-stones.
▪ II. ˈcracking, ppl. a.
[f. crack v. + -ing2.]
1. That cracks or makes a sharp noise as in breaking; that breaks with a sharp report; that bursts asunder.
c1340Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 1165 Wyth such a crakkande kry, as klyffes haden brusten. 1669Worlidge Syst. Agric. xiv. (1681) 300 Roaring or distant Thunders signifie Wind; but cracking or acute Thunders Winds and Rain. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 74 Cracking whip and jingling gears. 1868Geo. Eliot Sp. Gipsy 243, I stepped across the cracking earth, and knew 'Twould yawn behind me.
†2. Bragging, boasting; boastful. Obs.
1528Roy Sat. (Arb.) 43 Full of crakynge wordes inopinable. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xvi. (Arb.) 184 The craking Scotts..make this bald rime vpon the English-men. 1603Breton Packet Mad Lett. 11/2 A Cracking Coward was well cudgeld for his knauery. 1687Montague & Prior Hind & P. Transv. 20 Come leave your Cracking tricks.
3. slang. Vigorous, ‘rattling’, ‘thumping’. Also as adv.
1833S. Smith Lett. Major Downing (1834) 17 If you don't hear of cracking work down there, that will make 'em stare, I'm mistaken. 1840Spirit of Times (N.Y.) 7 Mar. 7 Long Island, where Decatur was to have made a cracking race. 1880Lady F. Dixie Across Patagonia, He had gone quite ten miles at a cracking pace. 1903N.Y. Sun 29 Nov. 11 The Hunters Champion Steeplechase resulted in a cracking good race. 1940N. Mitford Pigeon Pie iii. 52 ‘What was she like?’ ‘Cracking bore, as usual.’ 1957I. Cross God Boy (1958) 110 Probably turning out to be a cracking-good saint.
▪ III. cracking, pres. pple.
in phr. to get cracking: see crack v. 22 b. |