1. Excellent
   "he did a cracking job";
   - bang-up [N. Amer, informal], bully [informal], corking [Brit, informal], dandy [informal], great, groovy [informal], keen, neat, nifty [informal], not bad [informal], peachy, slap-up [informal], swell [informal], smashing [Brit, informal], old, not half bad [informal], grouse [Austral, NZ, informal], ripper [Austral, informal], lovely

1. A sudden sharp noise
   "he heard the cracking of the ice";
   - crack, snap
    
2. The act of cracking something
   "The cracking of nuts filled the room with a rhythmic sound";
   - fracture, crack
    
3. The process whereby heavy molecules of naphtha or petroleum are broken down into hydrocarbons of lower molecular weight (especially in the oil-refining process)
   "Cracking is essential for producing petrol from crude oil"

1. Used as an intensifier
   "We had a cracking good time at the party";
   - very, really, real [N. Amer, informal], rattling [informal], thoroughly, dirty [Brit, informal], mucho [informal], rotten [informal], massively [informal], jolly [Brit, informal], magnificently, splendidly, awesomely [informal], tremendously [informal]

1. Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only
   "The glass cracked when it was heated";
   - check, break
    
2. Break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension
   "The pipe cracked";
   - snap
    
3. Break partially but keep its integrity
   "The glass cracked"
    
4. Cause to become cracked
   "heat and light cracked the back of the leather chair"
    
5. Make a very sharp explosive sound
   "His gun cracked"
    
6. Make a sharp sound
   "his fingers cracked";
   - snap
    
7. Hit forcefully; deal a hard blow, making a cracking noise
   "The teacher cracked him across the face with a ruler"
    
8. Pass through (a barrier)
   "Registrations cracked through the 30,000 mark in the county";
   - break through
    
9. Gain unauthorized access to computers with malicious intentions
   "she cracked my password"; "crack a safe"
    
10. Suffer a nervous breakdown
    "The pressure of the job caused him to crack up";
    - crack up [informal], break up, collapse
     
11. Tell spontaneously
    "crack a joke"
     
12. (chemistry) reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking
    "The refinery cracks crude oil to produce petrol"
     
13. (chemistry) break into simpler molecules by means of heat
    "The petroleum cracked"
     
14. (of a voice) change in pitch, esp. as a result of emotional strain
    "His voice cracked as he delivered the emotional news"
     
15. Yield information under interrogation or torture
    "They managed to crack him on the third day";
    - break
     
16. Successfully decipher a code
    "The team worked tirelessly to crack the encrypted message";
    - break

Derived forms: crackings

See also: good

Type of: alter, break, break down, break in, break up, breakage, breaking, change, chemical action, chemical change, chemical process, come apart, decompose, fall apart, get, go, have, hit, modify, narrate, noise, pass, recite, recount, retail[2], separate, sound, split up, suffer, sustain, tell

Encyclopedia: Cracking