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Crack vs Gap - What's the difference?

crack | gap |

Gap is a synonym of crack.



In transitive terms the difference between crack and gap

is that crack is to tell (a joke) while gap is to check the size of a gap.

As verbs the difference between crack and gap

is that crack is (To form cracks) To form cracks while gap is to notch, as a sword or knife.

As nouns the difference between crack and gap

is that crack is (thin space opened in a previously solid material)A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material while gap is an opening in anything made by breaking or parting.

As an adjective crack

is highly trained and competent.

crack

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) crakken, craken, from (etyl) .

Verb

(en verb)
  • (senseid)To form cracks.
  • It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack .
  • To break apart under pressure.
  • When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked .
  • To become debilitated by psychological pressure.
  • Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.
  • To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.
  • When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked .
  • To make a cracking sound.
  • The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.
  • (of a voice) To change rapidly in register.
  • His voice cracked with emotion.
  • (of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.
  • His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen.
  • To make a sharply humorous comment.
  • "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked .
  • To make a crack or cracks in.
  • The ball cracked the window.
  • To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.
  • You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.
  • To strike forcefully.
  • She cracked him over the head with her handbag.
  • To open slightly.
  • Could you please crack the window?
  • To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative )
  • They managed to crack him on the third day.
  • To solve a difficult problem.
  • I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.
  • To overcome a security system or a component.
  • It took a minute to crack''' the lock, three minutes to '''crack''' the security system, and about twenty minutes to ' crack the safe.
    They finally cracked the code.
  • To cause to make a sharp sound.
  • to crack a whip
  • * 2001 , Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians
  • Hershell cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit that drove Inez crazy
  • To tell (a joke).
  • The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke.
  • (transitive, chemistry, informal) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.
  • Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C.
  • (computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.
  • That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.
  • (informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.
  • I'd love to crack open a beer .
  • (obsolete) To brag, boast.
  • *, II.4.1.v:
  • Cardan cracks that he can cure all diseases with water alone, as Hippocrates of old did most infirmities with one medicine.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Ethoipes of their sweet complexion crack .
  • (archaic, colloquial) To be ruined or impaired; to fail.
  • * Dryden
  • The creditof exchequers cracks , when little comes in and much goes out.
    Derived terms
    * bumcrack * crack a crib * crack a fat * crack baby * crack down * cracked * cracker * crack house * crack kills * crack of dawn * crack on * crack seed * crack up * crack whore * fall between the cracks * difficult nut to crack * hard nut to crack * tough nut to crack * what's the crack * wisecrack

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (senseid)A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.
  • A large crack had formed in the roadway.
  • A narrow opening.
  • We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall.
    Open the door a crack .
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=January 25 , author=Phil McNulty , title=Blackpool 2 - 3 Man Utd , work=BBC citation , page= , passage=Dimitar Berbatov found the first cracks in the home side's resilience when he pulled one back from close range and Hernandez himself drew the visitors level with a composed finish three minutes later as Bloomfield Road's earlier jubilation turned to despair. }}
  • A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.
  • I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle.
  • A potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.
  • * (rfdate) :
  • I wouldn't use it, if I was going to use it I can afford real cocaine. Crack is wack.
  • (onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.
  • The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles.
  • (onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.
  • The crack of the bat hitting the ball.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2011 , date=June 28 , author=Piers Newbery , title=Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=She broke to love in the opening game, only for Bartoli to hit straight back in game two, which was interrupted by a huge crack of thunder that made Lisicki jump and prompted nervous laughter from the 15,000 spectators.}}
  • (informal) An attempt at something.
  • I'd like to take a crack at that game.
  • (vulgar, slang) vagina.
  • I'm so horny even the crack of dawn isn't safe!
  • (vulgar) The space between the buttocks.
  • Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing.
  • (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humourous storytelling; good company.
  • * 2001 , William F. Gray, The Villain , iUniverse, p. 214:
  • Being a native of Northumberland, she was enjoying their banter and Geordie good humour. This was what she needed — good company and good crack .
  • * 2004 , Bill Griffiths, Dictionary of North East Dialect , Northumbria University Press (quoting Dunn, 1950)
  • "his a bit o' good crack — interesting to talk to"
  • * 2006 , Patrick McCabe, Winterwood , Bloomsbury 2007, p. 10:
  • By the time we've got a good drunk on us there'll be more crack in this valley than the night I pissed on the electric fence!
    The crack was good.
    That was good crack .
    He/she is quare good crack .
    The party was great crack .
  • (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Business/events/news
  • What's the crack ?
  • (computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.
  • Has anyone got a crack for DocumentWriter 3.0?
  • (Cumbria, elsewhere throughout the North of the UK) a meaningful chat.
  • (Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.
  • The tone of voice when changed at puberty.
  • * Shakespeare
  • Though now our voices / Have got the mannish crack .
  • (archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.
  • He has a crack .
  • (archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.
  • * Addison
  • I can not get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector.
  • (obsolete) A boast; boasting.
  • * Burton
  • crack and brags
  • * Shakespeare
  • vainglorious cracks
  • (obsolete) Breach of chastity.
  • (Shakespeare)
  • (obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.
  • * Shakespeare
  • - 'Tis a noble child.
    - A crack , madam.
  • (slang, dated, UK) A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.
  • I'll be with you in a crack .
    Usage notes
    * In the last few decades the word has been adopted into Gaelic; as there is no "k" in the Irish language the spelling (craic) has been devised.
    Synonyms
    * bum crack (UK), arse crack (UK), ass crack (US) * (cocaine that is heat-altered at the moment of inhalation) crack cocaine

    Etymology 2

    1793 slang, of origin

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Highly trained and competent.
  • Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case.
  • Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.
  • She's a crack shot with that rifle.
    Derived terms
    * crack train * crack troops

    gap

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An opening in anything made by breaking or parting.
  • An opening allowing passage or entrance.
  • An opening that implies a breach or defect.
  • A vacant space or time.
  • A hiatus.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The machine of a new soul , passage=The yawning gap in neuroscientists’ understanding of their topic is in the intermediate scale of the brain’s anatomy. Science has a passable knowledge of how individual nerve cells, known as neurons, work. It also knows which visible lobes and ganglia of the brain do what. But how the neurons are organised in these lobes and ganglia remains obscure. Yet this is the level of organisation that does the actual thinking—and is, presumably, the seat of consciousness.}}
  • A mountain or hill pass.
  • (label) A sheltered area of coast between two cliffs (mostly restricted to place names).
  • (label) The regions between the outfielders.
  • The shortfall between the amount the medical insurer will pay to the service provider and the scheduled fee for the item.
  • * 2008 , Eileen Willis, Louise Reynolds, Helen Keleher, Understanding the Australian Health Care System , page 5,
  • Under bulk billing the patient does not pay a gap , and the medical practitioner receives 85% of the scheduled fee.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=May 13, author=Andrew Benson, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= Williams's Pastor Maldonado takes landmark Spanish Grand Prix win , passage=That left Maldonado with a 6.2-second lead. Alonso closed in throughout their third stints, getting the gap down to 4.2secs before Maldonado stopped for the final time on lap 41.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1995, author=Robert E. Knoll, chapter=A University on the Defensive 1920-1927
  • , title= Prairie University: A History of the University of Nebraska, page=70 , passage=When Charles Bessey suddenly died in 1916 at age seventy, he left a gap that was impossible to fill; and though his protégé. R. J. Pool, was a man of intelligence and character, he did not have Bessey’s authority.}}
  • (label) (usually written as "the gap") The disparity between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities with regard to life expectancy, education, health, etc.
  • Synonyms

    * (opening made by breaking or parting) break, hole, rip, split, tear, rift, chasm, fissure * (opening allowing passage or entrance) break, clearing, hole, opening * (opening that implies a breach or defect) space * (vacant space or time) window * (hiatus) hiatus * (mountain pass) col, neck, pass * (in baseball)

    Derived terms

    * gap-toothed * gap year

    Verb

    (gapp)
  • (label) To notch, as a sword or knife.
  • (label) To make an opening in; to breach.
  • (label) To check the size of a gap.
  • Anagrams

    * * * ----