Nick vs Crack - What's the difference?
nick | crack |
A small cut in a surface.
# A particular point or place considered as marked by a nick; the exact point or critical moment.
#*, II.20:
#* Howell
# (printing, dated) A notch cut crosswise in the shank of a type, to assist a compositor in placing it properly in the stick, and in distribution.
Meanings connoting something small.
# (cricket) A small deflection of the ball off the edge of the bat, often going to the wicket-keeper for a catch.
# (real tennis) The point where the wall of the court meets the floor.
# (genetics) One of the single-stranded DNA segments produced during nick translation.
(archaic) A nixie, or water-sprite.
* 1879 , Viktor Rydberg, The Magic of the Middle Ages (p.201)
*:imps, giants, trolls, forest-spirits, elves and hobgoblins in and on the earth; nicks , river-sprites in the water, fiends in the air, and salamanders in the fire.
(UK, slang) In the expressions in bad nick'' and ''in good nick : condition.
* '>citation
(British, slang) A police station or prison.
To make a nick or notch in; to cut or scratch in a minor way.
# To make a cross cut or cuts on the underside of (the tail of a horse, in order to make the animal carry it higher).
# To mar; to deface; to make ragged, as by cutting nicks or notches in.
#* Prior
#* Shakespeare
To suit or fit into, as by a correspondence of nicks; to tally with.
* Camden
# To hit at, or in, the nick; to touch rightly; to strike at the precise point or time.
#* L'Estrange
# To throw or turn up (a number when playing dice); to hit upon.
#* {{quote-book, year=1773
, author=Oliver Goldsmith
, title=She Stoops to Conquer
, text=My old luck: I never nicked seven that I did not throw ames ace three times following.}}
# (cricket) to hit the ball with the edge of the bat and produce a fine deflection
(obsolete) To nickname; to style.
* Ford
(slang) To steal.
(transitive, British, slang) To arrest.
(senseid)To form cracks.
To break apart under pressure.
To become debilitated by psychological pressure.
To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.
To make a cracking sound.
(of a voice) To change rapidly in register.
(of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.
To make a sharply humorous comment.
To make a crack or cracks in.
To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.
To strike forcefully.
To open slightly.
To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative )
To solve a difficult problem.
To overcome a security system or a component.
To cause to make a sharp sound.
* 2001 , Doug McGuinn, The Apple Indians
To tell (a joke).
(transitive, chemistry, informal) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.
(computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.
(informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.
(obsolete) To brag, boast.
*, II.4.1.v:
* Shakespeare
(archaic, colloquial) To be ruined or impaired; to fail.
* Dryden
(senseid)A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.
A narrow opening.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=January 25
, author=Phil McNulty
, title=Blackpool 2 - 3 Man Utd
, work=BBC
A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.
A potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.
* (rfdate) :
(onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.
(onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.
* {{quote-news
, year=2011
, date=June 28
, author=Piers Newbery
, title=Wimbledon 2011: Sabine Lisicki beats Marion Bartoli
, work=BBC Sport
(informal) An attempt at something.
(vulgar, slang) vagina.
(vulgar) The space between the buttocks.
(Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humourous storytelling; good company.
* 2001 , William F. Gray, The Villain , iUniverse, p. 214:
* 2004 , Bill Griffiths, Dictionary of North East Dialect , Northumbria University Press (quoting Dunn, 1950)
* 2006 , Patrick McCabe, Winterwood , Bloomsbury 2007, p. 10:
(Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Business/events/news
(computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.
(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
(archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.
(archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.
* Addison
(obsolete) A boast; boasting.
* Burton
* Shakespeare
(obsolete) Breach of chastity.
(obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.
* Shakespeare
(slang, dated, UK) A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.
Highly trained and competent.
Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.
In archaic terms the difference between nick and crack
is that nick is a nixie, or water-sprite while crack is a crazy or crack-brained person.In transitive terms the difference between nick and crack
is that nick is to mar; to deface; to make ragged, as by cutting nicks or notches in while crack is to tell (a joke).In obsolete terms the difference between nick and crack
is that nick is to nickname; to style while crack is a boy, generally a pert, lively boy.As a proper noun Nick
is a diminutive of the male given name Nicholas.As an adjective crack is
highly trained and competent.nick
English
(wikipedia nick)Noun
(en noun)- in the nick of time
- Truely he flies when he is even upon the nicke , and naturally hasteneth to escape it, as from a step whereon he cannot stay or containe himselfe, and feareth to sinke into it.
- to cut it off in the very nick
- a user's reserved nick on an IRC network
- The car I bought was cheap and in good nick .
- He was arrested and taken down to Sun Hill nick [police station] to be charged.
- He's just been released from Shadwell nick [prison] after doing ten years for attempted murder.
Derived terms
* in the nick of timeVerb
(en verb)- I nicked myself while I was shaving.
- And thence proceed to nicking sashes.
- The itch of his affection should not then / Have nicked his captainship.
- Words nicking and resembling one another are applicable to different significations.
- The just season of doing things must be nicked , and all accidents improved.
- For Warbeck, as you nick him, came to me.
- Someone's nicked my bike!
- The police nicked him climbing over the fence of the house he'd broken into.
crack
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) crakken, craken, from (etyl) .Verb
(en verb)- It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack .
- When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked .
- Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.
- When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked .
- The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.
- His voice cracked with emotion.
- His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen.
- "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked .
- The ball cracked the window.
- You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.
- She cracked him over the head with her handbag.
- Could you please crack the window?
- They managed to crack him on the third day.
- I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.
- 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 crack a whip
- Hershell cracked his knuckles, a nervous habit that drove Inez crazy
- The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke.
- Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C.
- That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.
- I'd love to crack open a beer .
- Cardan cracks that he can cure all diseases with water alone, as Hippocrates of old did most infirmities with one medicine.
- Ethoipes of their sweet complexion crack .
- 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 * wisecrackNoun
(en noun)- A large crack had formed in the roadway.
- We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall.
- Open the door a crack .
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. }}
- I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle.
- I wouldn't use it, if I was going to use it I can afford real cocaine. Crack is wack.
- The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles.
- The crack of the bat hitting the ball.
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.}}
- I'd like to take a crack at that game.
- I'm so horny even the crack of dawn isn't safe!
- Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing.
- Being a native of Northumberland, she was enjoying their banter and Geordie good humour. This was what she needed — good company and good crack .
- "his a bit o' good crack — interesting to talk to"
- 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 .
- What's the crack ?
- Has anyone got a crack for DocumentWriter 3.0?
- Though now our voices / Have got the mannish crack .
- He has a crack .
- I can not get the Parliament to listen to me, who look upon me as a crack and a projector.
- crack and brags
- vainglorious cracks
- (Shakespeare)
- - 'Tis a noble child.
- A crack , madam.
- 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 cocaineEtymology 2
1793 slang, of originAdjective
(-)- Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case.
- She's a crack shot with that rifle.