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]

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)

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes with: -ækɪŋ

Noun

1. The thermal decomposition of a substance, especially that of crude petroleum in order to produce petrol / gasoline.

Adjective

1. Great

   The race started at a cracking pace.

2. Enjoyable.

   We had a cracking time.

Adverb

1. Very, usually associated with praise.

   It was a cracking good show.

Verb

cracking

1. present participle of crack

Derived terms

• get cracking

Cracking may refer to:

• Cracking, the formation of a fracture or partial fracture in a solid material
• Fluid catalytic cracking, a catalytic process widely used in oil refineries for cracking large hydrocarbon molecules into smaller molecules
• Cracking (chemistry), the decomposition of complex organic molecules into smaller ones
• Cracking joints, the practice of manipulating one's bone joints to make a sharp sound
• Cracking codes, see cryptanalysis
• Whip cracking
• Safe cracking

In computing:

• Password cracking, the process of discovering the plaintext of an encrypted computer password
• Hacker (computer security), the defeating of security devices in computer networks
• Software cracking, the defeating of software copy protection

See also

• Crack (cocaine)
• Cracker
• Crackling (pork rind)