Part 628

One of our crack speakers in the Commons. Dickens.

Crack"-brained` (-brānd`), a. Having an impaired intellect; whimsical; crazy. Pope.

Cracked (krăkt), a. 1. Coarsely ground or broken; as, cracked wheat.

2. Crack-brained. [Colloq.]

Crack"er (krăk"&etilde;r), n. 1. One who, or that which, cracks.

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

What cracker is this same that deafs our ears? Shak.

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

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

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

6. (Zo÷l.) The pintail duck.

7. pl. (Mach.) A pair of fluted rolls for grinding caoutchouc. Knight.

Crac"kle (krăk"k'l), 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.

The unknown ice that crackles underneath them. Dryden.

Crac"kle, n. 1. The noise of slight and frequent cracks or reports; a crackling.

The crackle of fireworks. Carlyle.

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

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.

Crac"kled (-k'ld), a. (Fine Arts) Covered with minute cracks in the glaze; -- said of some kinds of porcelain and fine earthenware.

Crac"kle*ware` (-w?r`), n. See Crackle, n., 3.

Crac"kling (kr?k"kl?ng), n. 1. The making of small, sharp cracks or reports, frequently repeated.

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

2. The well-browned, crisp rind of roasted pork.

For the first time in his life he tested crackling. Lamb.

3. pl. Food for dogs, made from the refuse of tallow melting.

Crack"nel (kr?k"n?l), n. [F. craquelin, fr. D. krakeling, fr. krakken to crack. See Crack, v. t.] A hard brittle cake or biscuit. Spenser.

Cracks"man (kr?ks"man), n., pl. Cracksmen (-men). A burglar. [Slang]

Cra*co"vi*an (kr?-k?"v?-an), a. Of or pertaining to Cracow in Poland.