■ noun
1》 a narrow opening between two parts of something which has split or been broken.
2》 a sudden sharp or explosive noise.
↘a sharp blow.
3》 informal a joke or jibe.
4》 (also craic ) chiefly Irish enjoyable entertainment; a good time.
↘ Scottish & N. English a conversation.
5》 informal an attempt to do something.
6》 (also ~ cocaine ) a potent hard crystalline form of cocaine broken into small pieces.
■ verb
1》 break or cause to break with little or no separation of the parts.
2》 give way under pressure or strain.
↘( ~ up ) informal suffer an emotional breakdown under pressure.
↘( ~ up ) informal burst into laughter.
3》 make or cause to make a sudden sharp or explosive sound.
↘hit hard.
4》 (of a person's voice) suddenly change in pitch, especially through strain.
5》 ( ~ down on ) informal take severe measures against.
6》 informal solve, interpret, or decipher.
↘break into (a safe).
7》 ( ~ on ) Brit. informal proceed or progress quickly.
8》 tell (a joke).
9》 decompose (hydrocarbons) by heat and pressure to produce lighter hydrocarbons.
■ adjective very good or skilful: a ~ shot.
Phrases
be ~ed up to be [with negative ] informal be asserted to be: acting is not as glamorous as it's ~ed up to be.
~ a crib archaic, informal break into a house.
~ of dawn daybreak.
~ of doom a thunder peal announcing the Day of Judgement.
~ of the whip Brit. informal a chance to try or participate in something.
get ~ing informal act quickly and energetically.
Derivatives
~y adjective
Origin
OE cracian 'make an explosive noise'; of Gmc origin.