crackとは

意味・読み方・使い方

語源 1

From Middle English crakken, craken, from 古期英語 cracian (“to resound, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krakōn, from Proto-Germanic *krakōną (“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 gìrgžděti (“to creak, squeak”), Old Armenian կարկաչ (karkačʿ), Sanskrit गर्जति (gárjati, “to roar, hum”).

動詞

crack (三人称単数 現在形 cracks, 現在分詞 cracking, 過去形および過去分詞形 cracked)

2. (intransitive) To form cracks.

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

3. (intransitive) To break apart under pressure.

   When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked.

4. (intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

   Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.

5. (intransitive) To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.

   When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked.

6. (intransitive) To make a cracking sound.

   The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.

7. (intransitive, of a voice) To change rapidly in register.

   His voice cracked with emotion.

8. (intransitive, of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.

   His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen.

9. (intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.

   "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked.

10. (transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.

    The ball cracked the window.

11. (transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.

    You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.

12. (transitive) To strike forcefully.

    She cracked him over the head with her handbag.

13. (transitive) To open slightly.

    Could you please crack the window?

14. (transitive, figuratively) To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure.

    They managed to crack him on the third day.

15. (transitive, figuratively) To solve a difficult problem.

    I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.

    • 2021 November 17, Conrad Landin, “Network News: Vivarail goes forth with fast-charging batteries”, in RAIL, number 944, page 13:

      "[...] The key to battery trains is more the ability to charge quickly. If you can do that, you've cracked it."

16. (transitive) To overcome a security system or a component.

    It took a minute to crack the lock, three minutes to crack the security system, and about twenty minutes to crack the safe.

    They finally cracked the code.

17. (transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.

    to crack a whip

    • 2001, Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians:

      Hershell cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit that drove Inez crazy […]

18. (transitive) To tell (a joke).

    The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke.

19. (transitive, chemistry, informal) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.

    Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C.

20. (transitive, computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.

    That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.

21. (transitive, informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.

    I'd love to crack open a beer.

    Let's crack a tube and watch the game.

    • 1894, The Strand (volume 8, page 569)

      Old Bouvet was waiting in the passage when I entered, and he asked me whether we might not crack a bottle of wine together.

22. (obsolete) To brag, boast.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], part II (books IV–VI), London: […] [Richard Field] for VVilliam Ponsonby, OCLC 932900760, book V, canto III, stanza 16, page 216:

      To whom the boaſter, that all knights did blot, / With proud diſdaine did ſcornefull anſwere make; […] And further did vncomely ſpeaches crake.

    • c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “Loues Labour’s Lost”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene iii], line 268, page 134, column 2:

      And Æthiopes of their ſweet complexion crack.

    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cauſes of Melancholy. Vaine-glory, Pride, Ioy, Praiſe, &c.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970, partition I, section 2, member 3, subsection 14, page 126:

      Stultitiam ſuam produnt &c. (ſaith Platerus) your very tradeſmen, if they be excellent, will crack and bragge, and ſhew their folly in exceſſe.

    • 1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], “Cure of Melancholy. Simple alternatives. Compound Alternatiues, Cenſure of Compounds and mixt Phyſick.”, in The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps, OCLC 54573970, partition II, section 4, member 1, subsection v:

      Cardan cracks that he can cure all diſeaſes with water alone, as Hippocrates of old did moſt infirmities with one medicine.

23. (archaic, colloquial) To be ruined or impaired; to fail.
    • 1697, “Dedications”, in Virgil; John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 403869432:

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

派生語

関連する語

• crazed (exhibiting fine-line cracks)

参考

• hack

名詞

crack (countable かつ uncountable, 複数形 cracks)

2. A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

   A large crack had formed in the roadway.

3. A narrow opening.

   We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall.

   Open the door a crack.

   • 2011 January 25, Phil McNulty, “Blackpool 2 - 3 Man Utd”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     Dimitar Berbatov found the first cracks in the home side's resilience when he pulled one back from close range and Hernandez himself drew the visitors level with a composed finish three minutes later as Bloomfield Road's earlier jubilation turned to despair.

4. A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

   I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle.

6. (slang) Crack cocaine, a potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.

   crack head

   • 1995, “Dear Mama”, in Me Against the World, performed by 2Pac:

     And even as a crack fiend, Mama / You always was a black queen, Mama

   1. (figuratively, humorous) Something good-tasting or habit-forming.

      kitty crack ― catnip

      • [2012 March 23, Rob Patronite; Robin Raisfeld, “Your Brain on Food”, in New York Magazine:

        When did naming foods after a powerful narcotic become a thing? […] Now the mean streets of New York are rife with “salted crack caramel” ice cream, “pistachio crack” brittle, “crack steak” sandwiches, and “tuna on crack.”]

7. (onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.

   The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles.

8. (onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.

   The crack of the bat hitting the ball.

   • 2011 June 28, Piers Newbery, “Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     She broke to love in the opening game, only for Bartoli to hit straight back in game two, which was interrupted by a huge crack of thunder that made Lisicki jump and prompted nervous laughter from the 15,000 spectators.

9. A sharp, resounding blow.
   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 11, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, OCLC 999756093:

     Mrs. Perkins, who has not been for some weeks on speaking terms with Mrs. Piper in consequence for an unpleasantness originating in young Perkins' having "fetched" young Piper "a crack," renews her friendly intercourse on this auspicious occasion.

10. (informal) An attempt at something.

    I'd like to take a crack at that game.

11. (vulgar, slang) Vagina.
    • 1956, Henry Miller, Quiet Days in Clichy, Grove Press, published 1987, →ISBN, page 143:

      I rattled off more silly nonsense, all the while clutching her firmly, pushing my fingers into her gluey crack.

12. (informal) The space between the buttocks.

    Synonym: buttcrack

    Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing.

13. (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; good company.

    The party was great crack.

    • 2001, William F. Gray, The Villain, iUniverse, p. 214:

      Being a native of Northumberland, she was enjoying their banter and Geordie good humour. This was what she needed — good company and good crack.

    • 2004, Bill Griffiths, Dictionary of North East Dialect, Northumbria University Press (quoting Dunn, 1950)

      "his a bit o' good crack — interesting to talk to"

    • 2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury 2007, p. 10:

      By the time we've got a good drunk on us there'll be more crack in this valley than the night I pissed on the electric fence!

14. (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Business; events; news.

    What's the crack?

    What's this crack about a possible merger?

15. (computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.

    Has anyone got a crack for DocumentWriter 3.0?

16. (hydrodynamics, US, dated) An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave through the air above the water.
    

    A nuclear explosion in shallow water; the crack is clearly visible on the water's surface.

    Coordinate term: slick

17. (Cumbria, elsewhere throughout the North of the 英国用法) a meaningful chat.
18. (Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.
19. The tone of voice when changed at puberty.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act IV, scene ii], page 389, column 2:

      And let vs (Polidore) though now our voyces / Haue got the manniſh cracke, ſing him to'th'ground

20. (archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.

    He has a crack.

21. (archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.

    Synonym: crackpot

    • 1711 December 29 (Gregorian calendar)​, Joseph Addison; Richard Steele, “TUESDAY, December 18, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 251; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume III, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, OCLC 191120697, pages 251-256:

      On the London Cries […] I have lately received a letter from some very odd fellow upon this subject […] ‘Sir, […] , but I cannot get the parliament to listen to me ; who look upon me, forsooth, as a crack and a projector […] I am, SIR, &c. / RALPH CROTCHET’

22. (obsolete) A boast; boasting.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Qveene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for VVilliam Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938, book II, canto XI, stanza 10, page 350:

      Slaunderous reproches,and fowle infamies, / Leaſings,backbytings,and vaineglorious crakes

23. (obsolete) Breach of chastity.
    • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act V, scene v], page 396:

      But thinke her bond of Chaſtity quite crack'd, I hauing 'tane the forfeyt.

24. (obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.
    • c. 1596–1599, William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene ii], page 86, column 2:

      The ſame Sir Iohn, the very ſame: I ſaw him breake Scogaan's Head at the Court-Gate, when hee was a Crack, not thus high: […]

    • c. 1608–1609, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Coriolanus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene iii], page 4, column 2:

      Indeed la, tis a noble childe. / - A Cracke Madam.

25. (slang, dated, UK) A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.

    I'll be with you in a crack.

使用する際の注意点

• (Scots language, common in lowland Scotland かつ Ulster, conviviality): In recent decades, the word has been adopted into Gaelic as craic.

同意語

• (卑語: space between the buttocks): bum crack (英国用法), arse crack (英国用法), ass crack (米国用法)

派生語

語源 2

Of unknown origin.

形容詞

crack (not comparable)

1. Highly trained and competent.

   Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case.

2. Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.

   She's a crack shot with that rifle.

   • 1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, chapter 38, in The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, OCLC 558196156:

     Every scratch in the scheme was a gnarled oak in the forest of difficulty, and I went on cutting them down, one after another, with such vigour, that in three or four months I was in a condition to make an experiment on one of our crack speakers in the Commons.

   • 1962 April, J. N. Faulkner, “Summer Saturday at Waterloo”, in Modern Railways, page 264:

     Fortunately, it is unusual for the crack transatlantic liners to sail or dock on a Saturday, but it is the custom for most holiday cruises to start on that day, returning on Fridays a fortnight or three weeks later.

派生語

• crack train
• crack troops

関連する語

• crackerjack

名詞

crack (複数形 cracks)

2. (obsolete) One who excels; the best.
   • 1888 [1637], James Shirley, Hyde Park, act IV, scene iii, page 236:

     1st Gent. What dost think, Jockey? / 2nd Gent. The crack o' the field's against you.

派生した語

• → Catalan: crac
• → French: crack
• → German: Crack
• → Spanish: crack

Further reading

• “crack”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.
• “crack” in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• “crack” in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.