crack
verb /kræk/
/kræk/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they crack | /kræk/ /kræk/ |
| he / she / it cracks | /kræks/ /kræks/ |
| past simple cracked | /krækt/ /krækt/ |
| past participle cracked | /krækt/ /krækt/ |
| -ing form cracking | /ˈkrækɪŋ/ /ˈkrækɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to break without dividing into separate parts; to break something in this way
- The ice cracked as I stepped onto it.
- crack something He has cracked a bone in his arm.
Extra ExamplesTopics Physics and chemistryb2- The dish had cracked quite badly.
- The leather/mud/paint/plaster had cracked.
- [intransitive, transitive] to break open or into pieces; to break something in this way
- + adv./prep. A chunk of the cliff had cracked off in a storm.
- (figurative) His face cracked into a smile.
- crack something to crack a nut
- crack something + adv./prep. She cracked an egg into the pan.
- [transitive] crack something/somebody (on/against something) to hit something/somebody in a short hard manner
- I cracked my head on the low ceiling.
- He cracked me on the head with a ruler.
Extra Examples- He stood up suddenly, cracking his head on the low ceiling.
- As I leapt up, I cracked my skull on a beam and passed out.
- [intransitive, transitive] to make a sharp sound; to make something do this
- A shot cracked across the ridge.
- [no passive] crack something He cracked his whip and galloped away.
- [intransitive] if your voice cracks, it changes in depth, volume, etc. suddenly and in a way that you cannot control
- In a voice cracking with emotion, he told us of his son's death.
- [intransitive] to no longer be able to function normally because of pressure
- Things are terrible at work and people are cracking under the strain.
- They questioned him for days before he cracked.
- The old institutions are cracking.
Extra Examples- He is under a lot of pressure but is showing no signs of cracking.
- The stresses of her job became too great and she finally cracked.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- completely
- finally
- up
- …
- crack under the pressure
- crack under the strain
- show signs of cracking
- …
- hard
- on
- [transitive] crack something to find the solution to a problem, etc; to find the way to do something difficult
- to crack the enemy’s code
- (informal) After a year in this job I think I've got it cracked!
Extra Examples- ‘How's the investigation going?’ ‘I think we've cracked it.’
- A team of experts finally cracked the code.
- We need some more solid evidence if we're going to crack the case.
- [transitive] crack something to find a way of stopping or defeating a criminal or an enemy
- Police have cracked a major drugs ring.
- [transitive] crack (open) a bottle (informal) to open a bottle, especially of wine, and drink it
- [transitive] crack a joke (informal) to tell a joke
break
hit
make sound
of voice
under pressure
find solution
stop somebody/something
open bottle
a joke
Word OriginOld English cracian ‘make an explosive noise’; of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kraken and German krachen. Sense (8) of the noun is from Irish craic ‘entertaining conversation’.
Idioms
crack the whip
- to use your authority or power to make somebody work very hard, usually by treating them in a strict way
crack wise
- (informal) to make jokes
- This entertainer can crack wise with the best of them.
get cracking
- (informal) to begin immediately and work quickly synonym get going
- There's a lot to be done, so let's get cracking.
a hard/tough nut (to crack)
- a difficult problem or situation to deal with
not all, everything, etc. somebody’s cracked up to be
- (informal) not as good as people say
- He's not nearly such a good writer as he's cracked up to be.
use a sledgehammer to crack a nut
- to use more force than is necessary
