Hypertext Webster Gateway: "cracking"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Crack \Crack\ (kr[a^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cracked}
(kr[a^]kt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Cracking}.] [OE. cracken,
craken, to crack, break, boast, AS. cracian, cearcian, to
crack; akin to D. kraken, G. krachen; cf. Skr. garj to
rattle, or perh. of imitative origin. Cf. {Crake},
{Cracknel}, {Creak}.]
1. To break or burst, with or without entire separation of
the parts; as, to crack glass; to crack nuts.

2. To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow;
hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze.

O, madam, my old heart is cracked. --Shak.

He thought none poets till their brains were
cracked. --Roscommon.

3. To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to
crack a whip.

4. To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke.
--B. Jonson.

5. To cry up; to extol; -- followed by up. [Low]

{To crack a bottle}, to open the bottle and drink its
contents.

{To crack a crib}, to commit burglary. [Slang]

{To crack on}, to put on; as, to crack on more sail, or more
steam. [Colloq.]

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

cracking
adj 1: making a loud sharp sound as of a rifle shot or a breaking
branch or a whip; "lion tamers with their cracking
whips"
2: (informal) very good; "a bully pulpit"; "a neat sports car";
"had a great time at the party"; "you look simply
smashing" [syn: {bang-up}, {bully}, {corking}, {dandy}, {great},
{groovy}, {keen}, {neat}, {nifty}, {not bad(p)}, {peachy},
{slap-up}, {swell}, {smashing}]
n 1: a sudden sharp noise; "the crack of a whip"; "he heard the
cracking of the ice" [syn: {crack}]
2: the act of cracking something [syn: {fracture}, {crack}]
3: the process whereby heavy molecules of naphtha or petroleum
are broken down into hydrocarbons of lower molecular
weight (especially in the oil-refining process)


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