crack

CEFRB1

/kɹæk/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To break something so that a line or split appears.

  2. 02

    noun

    A narrow break or opening in a hard surface.

Examples

  • I'm afraid I have a crack in my right arm.

  • The ice will crack beneath our weight.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

  2. To break apart under force, stress, or pressure.

  3. To form cracks.

More examples

In context

  • This cup has a crack in it.

  • Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.

  • It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

After the earthquake, a dangerous blank appeared in the building's foundation.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English crakken, craken, from Old English cracian (“to resound, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn (“to crack, crackle, shriek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to resound, cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots crak (“to crack”), West Frisian kreakje (“to crack”), Dutch kraken (“to crunch, creak, squeak”), Low German kraken (“to crack”), German krachen (“to crash, crack, creak”), Lithuanian gi̇̀rgžděti (“to creak, squeak”), Old Armenian կարկաչ (karkačʻ), Sanskrit गर्जति (gárjati, “to roar, hum”). Compare typologically English crevice (<< Latin crepō), Bulgarian пукнатина (puknatina) (akin to пу́кам (púkam)), Russian тре́щина (tréščina) (akin to треск (tresk)),...