A sudden sharp noise. Synonyms:crack, snap."He heard the cracking of the ice" , "He can hear the snap of a twig"
2.
The act of cracking something. Synonyms:crack, fracture.
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).
Crack
verb
(past & past part. cracked; pres. part. cracking)
1.
Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only. Synonyms:break, check.
... the dream of the old oak: and while he dreamed, a mighty storm came rushing over land and sea, at the holy Christmas time. The sea rolled in great billows towards the shore. There was a cracking and crushing heard in the tree. The root was torn from the ground just at the moment when in his dream he fancied it was being loosened from the earth. He fell—his three hundred and sixty-five years were passed as the single day ... — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen • Hans Christian Andersen Read full book for free!
... it must please a shipwrecked seaman once again to grasp a hand of flesh and blood after years of miserable solitude. They have the freshness of the daylight life about them. You can hear the carters cracking their whips and crying hoarsely to their horses or to one another; and sometimes even a peal of healthy, harsh horse-laughter comes up to you through the darkness. There is now an end of mystery and fear. Like the knocking at the door in Macbeth, {8} or the cry of the watchman in the Tour ... — Lay Morals • Robert Louis Stevenson Read full book for free!
... I try to convince myself it's only imagination; but two or three times, far out there towards the Picacho, I've heard that whip cracking. I have felt sure there was a hammering sound, as though some one were pounding on a wagon-tire. Once I was sure I heard a horse snort. That I was in a measure expecting. If those fellows mean to attack, they'll come mounted, of course; but what wagon ... — Foes in Ambush • Charles King Read full book for free!
... "I sort of think I'd like to catch a sucker or two in this pool Johnny is always cracking up. I bet he's in for a big jolt about his trout! ... — The Vehement Flame • Margaret Wade Campbell Deland Read full book for free!
... the white distance that lay between him and his kennel—more unattainable to his weakness than a quarter of a continent had been to his strength. And while he stood there the roaring of the wind in the great oaks overhead, the cracking of their naked branches, the swirl of snow against his nose and in his eyes, bewildered him, and suddenly something deep within him whispered to him to ... — Frank of Freedom Hill • Samuel A. Derieux Read full book for free!