n. 1 a sharp explosive noise. b sudden harshness or change in vocal pitch. 2 sharp blow. 3 a narrow opening; break or split. b chink. 4 colloq. joke or malicious remark. 5 colloq. attempt. 6 slang crystalline form of cocaine broken into small pieces. u. 1 break without separating the parts. 2 make or cause to make a sharp explosive sound. 3 break with a sharp sound. 4 give way or cause to give way (under torture etc.). 5 (of the voice) change pitch sharply; break. 6 colloq. find the solution to. 7 tell (a joke etc.). 8 colloq. hit sharply. 9 (as cracked adj.) crazy. 10 break (wheat) into coarse pieces. attrib. adj. colloq. excellent; firstrate (crack shot). crack a bottle open a bottle, esp. of wine, and drink it. crack down on colloq. take severe measures against. crack of dawn daybreak. crack up colloq. 1 collapse under strain. 2 praise. get cracking colloq. begin promptly and vigorously. [Old English]
