crack

a. Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of; as, a crack shot. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

One of our crack speakers in the Commons. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cracked 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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. To break or burst, with or without entire separation of the parts; as, to crack glass; to crack nuts. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow; hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, madam, my old heart is cracked. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He thought none poets till their brains were cracked. Roscommon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To cry up; to extol; -- followed by up. [ Low ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

By misfortune it cracked in the coling. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mirror cracked from side to side. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be ruined or impaired; to fail. [ Collog. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The credit . . . of exchequers cracks, when little comes in and much goes out. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To utter a loud or sharp, sudden sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To utter vain, pompous words; to brag; to boast; -- with of. [ Archaic. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Ethoipes of their sweet complexion crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

My love to thee is sound, sans crack or flaw. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sharp, sudden sound or report; the sound of anything suddenly burst or broken; as, the crack of a falling house; the crack of thunder; the crack of a whip. [ 1913 Webster ]

Will the stretch out to the crack of doom? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The tone of voice when changed at puberty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity; as, he has a crack. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A crazy or crack-brained person. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I . . . can not get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A boast; boasting. [ Obs. ] “Crack and brags.” Burton. “Vainglorius cracks.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Breach of chastity. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A boy, generally a pert, lively boy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Val. 'T is a noble child. Vir. A crack, madam. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack. [ Eng. & Scot. Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

11. Free conversation; friendly chat. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What is crack in English? . . . A crack is . . . a chat with a good, kindly human heart in it. P. P. Alexander. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. a witty remark; a wisecrack. [ PJC ]

13. a chance or opportunity to do something; an attempt; as, I'll take a crack at it. [ PJC ]

14. a form of cocaine, highly purified and prepared as small pellets, especially suitable for smoking; -- also called rock. Used in this form it appears to be more addicting than cocaine powder. [ slang ] [ PJC ]

a. [ Now usually spelled crackerjack. ] Of marked ability or excellence. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

n. [ Now usually spelled crackerjack. ] [ prob. from crack + jack, a man. ] 1. An individual of marked ability or excellence, esp. in some sport; as, he is a crackajack at tennis. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A preparation of popped corn, candied and pressed into small cakes. [ U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

{ n. Also }. A kind of gambling game consisting in pitching coins to or towards the ceiling of a room so that they shall fall as near as possible to a certain crack in the floor. [ Gamblers' Cant, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Having an impaired intellect; whimsical; extremely foolish; crazy; as, crackbrained notions. Pope.
Syn. -- idiotic. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. 1. Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Crack-brained. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]