[W/K] :: cracking

  Crack \Crack\ (kr[a^]k), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cracked
     (kr[a^]kt); 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.
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     2. To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow;
        hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze.
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              O, madam, my old heart is cracked.    --Shak.
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              He thought none poets till their brains were
              cracked.                              --Roscommon.
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     3. To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to
        crack a whip.
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     4. To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke.
        --B. Jonson.
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     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]

  cracking \cracking\ n.
     1. the act of cracking something.
  
     Syn: fracture, crack.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  
     2. (Chem.) the process of making lower molecular weight
        hydrocarbons from heavier hydrocarbons in petroleum, by
        exposure to heat and catalysts. It is used to convert
        heavier alkanes into gasoline, or to improve the octane
        number of an alkane mixture.
        [PJC]

  cracking \cracking\ adj.
     same as groovy, sense 1. [informal]
  
     Syn: bang-up, bully, cool, corking, dandy, great, groovy,
          keen, neat, nifty, not bad(predicate), peachy, slap-up,
          swell, smashing.
          [WordNet 1.5]

  cracking
       adj : very good; "he did a bully job"; "a neat sports car"; "had a
             great time at the party"; "you look simply smashing"
             [syn: bang-up, bully, corking, dandy, great,
             groovy, keen, neat, nifty, not bad(p), peachy,
              slap-up, swell, smashing]
       n 1: a sudden sharp noise; "the crack of a whip"; "he heard the
            cracking of the ice"; "he can hear the snap of a twig"
            [syn: crack, snap]
       2: the act of cracking something [syn: 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 n. [very common] The act of breaking into a computer system;
     what a cracker does. Contrary to widespread myth, this does not
     usually involve some mysterious leap of hackerly brilliance, but rather
     persistence and the dogged repetition of a handful of fairly well-known
     tricks that exploit common weaknesses in the security of target systems.
     Accordingly, most crackers are only mediocre hackers.
  
  

  cracking
       
          cracker