Definitions
1.verbTo form cracks."It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack."
2.verbTo break apart under pressure."When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked."
3.verbTo become debilitated by psychological pressure."Anyone would crack after being hounded like that."
4.verbTo break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture."When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked."
5.verbTo make a cracking sound."The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six."
6.verb(of a voice) To change rapidly in register."His voice cracked with emotion."
7.verb(of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering."His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen."
8.verbTo make a sharply humorous comment.""I would too, with a face like that," she cracked."
9.verbTo make a crack or cracks in."The ball cracked the window."
10.verbTo break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress."You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut."
11.verbTo strike forcefully."She cracked him over the head with her handbag."
12.verbTo open slightly."Could you please crack the window?"
13.verbTo cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative)"They managed to crack him on the third day."
14.verbTo solve a difficult problem. (Figurative, from cracking a nut.)"I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight."
15.verbTo overcome a security system or a component."It took a minute to crack the lock, three minutes to crack the security system, and about twenty minutes to crack the safe."
16.verbTo cause to make a sharp sound."to crack a whip"
17.verbTo tell (a joke)."The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke."
18.verbTo break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse."Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C."
19.verbTo circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits."That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it."
20.verbTo open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food."I'd love to crack open a beer."
21.verbTo brag, boast.
22.verbTo be ruined or impaired; to fail.
23.nounThe thermal decomposition of a substance, especially that of crude petroleum in order to produce petrol / gasoline.
24.nounThe formation of cracks on a surface.
25.nounThe production of a crack sound."the crackings of whips"
26.adjectiveGreat."The race started at a cracking pace."
27.adjectiveEnjoyable."We had a cracking time."
28.adverbVery, usually associated with praise."It was a cracking good show."