*rack*

n. [ Ar. araq sweat, juice, spirituous liquor, fr. araqa to sweat. Cf. Rack arrack. ] A name in the East Indies and the Indian islands for all ardent spirits. Arrack is often distilled from a fermented mixture of rice, molasses, and palm wine of the cocoanut tree or the date palm, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Bacharach. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. A kind of wine made at Bacharach on the Rhine. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } n. See Bacharach. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. baraque, fr. It. baracca (cf. Sp. barraca), from LL. barra bar. See Bar, n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Mil.) A building for soldiers, especially when in garrison. Commonly in the pl., originally meaning temporary huts, but now usually applied to a permanent structure or set of buildings. [ 1913 Webster ]

He lodged in a miserable hut or barrack, composed of dry branches and thatched with straw. Gibbon. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A movable roof sliding on four posts, to cover hay, straw, etc. [ Local, U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To supply with barracks; to establish in barracks; as, to barrack troops. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To live or lodge in barracks. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. similar to and found with black rockweed.
Syn. -- Ascophyllum nodosum. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. common black rockweed used in preparing kelp and as manure.
Syn. -- black rockweed, bladder fucus, tang, Fucus vesiculosus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ Cf.D. braak, Dan. bræk, a breaking, Sw. & Icel. brak a crackling, creaking. Cf. Breach. ] An opening caused by the parting of any solid body; a crack or breach; a flaw. [ 1913 Webster ]

Stain or brack in her sweet reputation. J. Fletcher. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ D. brak, adj., salt; cf. LG. wrak refuse, G. brack. ] Salt or brackish water. [ Obs. ] Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OE. braken, AS. bracce. See 2d Brake, n. ] A brake or fern. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. OF. braguette codpiece, F. brayette, Sp. bragueta, also a projecting mold in architecture; dim. fr. L. bracae breeches; cf. also, OF. bracon beam, prop, support; of unknown origin. Cf. Breeches. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. (Arch.) An architectural member, plain or ornamental, projecting from a wall or pier, to support weight falling outside of the same; also, a decorative feature seeming to discharge such an office. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ This is the more general word. See Brace, Cantalever, Console, Corbel, Strut. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Engin. & Mech.) A piece or combination of pieces, usually triangular in general shape, projecting from, or fastened to, a wall, or other surface, to support heavy bodies or to strengthen angles. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Naut.) A shot, crooked timber, resembling a knee, used as a support. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Mil.) The cheek or side of an ordnance carriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Print.) One of two characters [ ], used to inclose a reference, explanation, or note, or a part to be excluded from a sentence, to indicate an interpolation, to rectify a mistake, or to supply an omission, and for certain other purposes; -- called also crotchet. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A gas fixture or lamp holder projecting from the face of a wall, column, or the like. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Gunnery) A figure determined by firing a projectile beyond a target and another short of it, as a basis for ascertaining the proper elevation of the piece; -- only used in the phrase, to establish a bracket. After the bracket is established shots are fired with intermediate elevations until the exact range is obtained. In the United States navy it is called fork. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Bracket light, a gas fixture or a lamp attached to a wall, column, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Bracketed; p. pr. & vb. n. Bracketing ] 1. To place within brackets; to connect by brackets; to furnish with brackets. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Gunnery) To shoot so as to establish a bracket for (an object). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Arch.) A series or group of brackets; brackets, collectively. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Brack salt water. ] Saltish, or salt in a moderate degree, as water in saline soil. [ 1913 Webster ]

Springs in deserts found seem sweet, all brackish though they be. Byron. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality or state of being brackish, or somewhat salt. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Brackish. Drayton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. caraque (cf. Sp. & Pg. carraca, It. caracca.), LL. carraca, fr. L. carrus wagon; or perh. fr. Ar. qorqūr (pl. qarāqir) a carack. ] (Naut.) A kind of large ship formerly used by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the East India trade; a galleon. [ Spelt also carrack. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The bigger whale like some huge carrack lay. Waller. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Carack. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an endless belt looped over several wheels, used in pairs in place of wheels to propel vehicles, such as tractors or military tanks, over rough ground. [ PJC ]

adj. having caterpillar treads or tracks on the wheels; as, a caterpillar-tracked earthmover.
Syn. -- caterpillar. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cracked 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow; hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze. [ 1913 Webster ]

O, madam, my old heart is cracked. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

He thought none poets till their brains were cracked. Roscommon. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke. B. Jonson. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]

v. i. 1. To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts. [ 1913 Webster ]

By misfortune it cracked in the coling. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mirror cracked from side to side. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be ruined or impaired; to fail. [ Collog. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The credit . . . of exchequers cracks, when little comes in and much goes out. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To utter a loud or sharp, sudden sound. [ 1913 Webster ]

As thunder when the clouds in autumn crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To utter vain, pompous words; to brag; to boast; -- with of. [ Archaic. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Ethoipes of their sweet complexion crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral sense. [ 1913 Webster ]

My love to thee is sound, sans crack or flaw. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A sharp, sudden sound or report; the sound of anything suddenly burst or broken; as, the crack of a falling house; the crack of thunder; the crack of a whip. [ 1913 Webster ]

Will the stretch out to the crack of doom? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The tone of voice when changed at puberty. [ 1913 Webster ]

Though now our voices
Have got the mannish crack. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. Mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity; as, he has a crack. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. A crazy or crack-brained person. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

I . . . can not get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A boast; boasting. [ Obs. ] “Crack and brags.” Burton. “Vainglorius cracks.” Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

8. Breach of chastity. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

9. A boy, generally a pert, lively boy. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Val. 'T is a noble child. Vir. A crack, madam. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

10. A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack. [ Eng. & Scot. Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

11. Free conversation; friendly chat. [ Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What is crack in English? . . . A crack is . . . a chat with a good, kindly human heart in it. P. P. Alexander. [ 1913 Webster ]

12. a witty remark; a wisecrack. [ PJC ]

13. a chance or opportunity to do something; an attempt; as, I'll take a crack at it. [ PJC ]

14. a form of cocaine, highly purified and prepared as small pellets, especially suitable for smoking; -- also called rock. Used in this form it appears to be more addicting than cocaine powder. [ slang ] [ PJC ]

a. Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of; as, a crack shot. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

One of our crack speakers in the Commons. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Now usually spelled crackerjack. ] [ prob. from crack + jack, a man. ] 1. An individual of marked ability or excellence, esp. in some sport; as, he is a crackajack at tennis. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

2. A preparation of popped corn, candied and pressed into small cakes. [ U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

a. [ Now usually spelled crackerjack. ] Of marked ability or excellence. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

{ n. Also }. A kind of gambling game consisting in pitching coins to or towards the ceiling of a room so that they shall fall as near as possible to a certain crack in the floor. [ Gamblers' Cant, U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Having an impaired intellect; whimsical; extremely foolish; crazy; as, crackbrained notions. Pope.
Syn. -- idiotic. [ 1913 Webster + WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

a. 1. Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Crack-brained. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, cracks. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A noisy boaster; a swaggering fellow. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

What cracker is this same that deafs our ears? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A small firework, consisting of a little powder inclosed in a thick paper cylinder with a fuse, and exploding with a sharp noise; -- usually called firecracker. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A thin, dry biscuit, often hard or crisp; as, a Boston cracker; a Graham cracker; a soda cracker; an oyster cracker. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A nickname to designate a poor white in some parts of the Southern United States. Bartlett. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) The pintail duck. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. pl. (Mach.) A pair of fluted rolls for grinding caoutchouc. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. characteristic of country life; as, cracker-barrel philosophy.
Syn. -- folksy, homespun. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a creeping red-berried perenial herb (Cornus canadensis) distinguished by clustered leaf whorls at tips of shoots; Greenland to Alaska.
Syn. -- bunchberry, dwarf cornel, pudding berry, Cornus canadensis. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ also spelled crackerjack. ] [ prob. from crack + jack, a man. ] 1. An individual of marked ability or excellence, esp. in some sport; as, he is a crackajack at tennis. [ Slang ]
Syn. -- jimdandy, jimhickey. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

2. A preparation of popped corn, candied and pressed into small cakes. The name Cracker Jack(TM) is now a trademark for a similar confection. [ U. S. ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

3. something excellent of its kind.
Syn. -- jimdandy, jimhickey. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. [ also spelled crackajack. ] Of marked ability or excellence. [ Slang ] [ Webster 1913 Suppl. +PJC ]

adj. crazy. [ informal or slang ]
Syn. -- balmy, barmy, bats, batty, bonkers, buggy, cracked, daft, dotty, fruity, haywire, kooky, kookie, loco, loony, loopy, nuts, nutty, wacky. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

. Georgia; -- a nickname. See Cracker, n. 5. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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 ]

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 ]

v. i. [ Dim. of crack. ] To make slight cracks; to make small, sharp, sudden noises, rapidly or frequently repeated; to crepitate; as, burning thorns crackle. [ 1913 Webster ]

The unknown ice that crackles underneath them. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The noise of slight and frequent cracks or reports; a crackling. [ 1913 Webster ]

The crackle of fireworks. Carlyle. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Med.) A kind of crackling sound or râle, heard in some abnormal states of the lungs; as, dry crackle; moist crackle. Quain. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Fine Arts) A condition produced in certain porcelain, fine earthenware, or glass, in which the glaze or enamel appears to be cracked in all directions, making a sort of reticulated surface; as, Chinese crackle; Bohemian crackle. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Fine Arts) Covered with minute cracks in the glaze; -- said of some kinds of porcelain and fine earthenware. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Crackle, n., 3. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The making of small, sharp cracks or reports, frequently repeated. [ 1913 Webster ]

As the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool. Eccl. vii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The well-browned, crisp rind of roasted pork. [ 1913 Webster ]

For the first time in his life he tested crackling. Lamb. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. pl. Food for dogs, made from the refuse of tallow melting. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. craquelin, fr. D. krakeling, fr. krakken to crack. See Crack, v. t. ] A hard brittle cake or biscuit. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a whimsically eccentric person.
Syn. -- crank, nut, nutcase, screwball. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n., pl. Cracksmen A burglar. [ Slang ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A small explosive device consisting of a paper or cardboard cylinder having only sufficient explosive mixture to make a loud bang, ignited by a short fuse, and used mostly as an entertainment or in celebrations. Same as Cracker., n., 3. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]