cracking

1. 1
   verb

   Present participle of crack.

   The dry paint was cracking along the edges of the old canvas.

   Cracking the safe took the thief less than ten minutes.

   Note

   The verb form shares its spelling with the nouns, and its grammar tells them apart. As a gerund it takes a direct object, as in cracking the safe. The noun for the sound needs of instead, as in the cracking of whips. As a participle it builds the progressive, as in the paint was cracking. Many of crack's meanings are intransitive, so the progressive often has no object at all.

2. 2
   noununcountable

   The appearance or development of cracks across a surface.

   Inspectors noted significant cracking in the bridge's concrete supports.

   Cracking in the glaze gives the old pottery its antique look.

   Similarcrazing, fracturing, fissuring

3. 3
   noununcountable

   The making of a sharp, sudden sound, such as that of something snapping or breaking.

   The cracking of the frozen lake startled the skaters.

   A loud cracking came from the fireplace as the logs burned down.

   Similarsnapping, crackling, popping

   Note

   Here the noun can be counted. The crackings of whips are separate reports heard one after another, and the plural crackings makes sense only for this sound meaning, not for the slow spread of cracks across a surface. Use the singular for a continuous noise and the plural for a series of distinct snaps.

4. 4
   adjectivecolloquial

   Great or excellent; of very high quality.

   The team delivered a cracking performance in the final.

   That chef serves a cracking three-course meal for the price.

   Similarexcellent, great, superb, terrific, brilliant

   Oppositepoor, awful, dismal, terrible

   Note

   Casual praise, close in feel to crackerjack. It sits before the noun it admires: a cracking example, a cracking performance. With speed words it means brisk and impressive, so a cracking pace is a fast one. It belongs to conversation and lively journalism. In formal writing, excellent or outstanding does the same job without the chatty tone.

5. 5
   adjective

   Producing a sharp, sudden sound, as of something splitting or breaking.

   The cracking timbers of the ship warned the crew of danger.

   A cracking peal of thunder split the evening silence.

   Similarcrashing

   Note

   The literal, audible adjective. It usually comes before a noun of sound and often pairs with another sound word, as in Rider Haggard's She (1886–87): "a fierce fizzing and cracking sound." Be careful of the double reading. A cracking sound is heard, but a cracking pace or a cracking performance is praised. The noun that follows usually tells you which meaning is meant.

6. 6
   adverbBritish

   To a high degree; very, typically used to intensify a word of praise.

   The new pub does a cracking good Sunday roast.

   It was a cracking good match down at the ground on Saturday.

   Similarjolly, really, very

   Note

   A British intensifier that almost always comes right before good, as in a cracking good show. It cannot be graded: there is no more cracking good or most cracking good. It conveys the speaker's enthusiasm more than any exact degree. It differs from the adjective of praise in position. A cracking show praises the show directly, while a cracking good show boosts the word good.

7. 7
   adjectivecolloquial

   Thoroughly enjoyable.

   The whole family had a cracking day out at the fair.

   It turned out to be a cracking vacation despite the rain.

   Similargreat, wonderful, fantastic, terrific, smashing

   Oppositemiserable, dreadful, awful

8. 8
   noununcountable

   The breakdown of a substance by heat, especially of crude petroleum, in order to produce gasoline.

   Catalytic cracking increased the plant's gasoline yield substantially.

   Engineers adjusted the temperature to optimize cracking of the heavy fractions.

   Note

   Petrochemistry's sense of the word: heat, or heat with a catalyst, breaks large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller ones. Refiners use it to turn the heavy fractions of crude oil into lighter, gasoline-range products. The common compound is catalytic cracking, which names the version that uses a catalyst. Unlike cracks forming on a surface, nothing visibly splits here; the breaking happens inside the molecules.

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