The difference between Break and Crack

When used as nouns, break means an instance of breaking something into two or more pieces, whereas crack means a thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

When used as verbs, break means to separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. to crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain, whereas crack means to form cracks.

Crack is also adjective with the meaning: highly trained and competent.

check bellow for the other definitions of Break and Crack

  1. Break as a verb (transitive, intransitive):

    To separate into two or more pieces, to fracture or crack, by a process that cannot easily be reversed for reassembly. To crack or fracture (bone) under a physical strain.

    Examples:

    "If the vase falls to the floor, it might break."

    "In order to tend to the accident victim, he will break the window of the car."

    "His ribs broke under the weight of the rocks piled on his chest."

    "She broke her neck."

    "He slipped on the ice and broke his leg."

  2. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To divide (something, often money) into smaller units.

    Examples:

    "Can you break a hundred-dollar bill for me?"

    "The wholesaler broke the container loads into palettes and boxes for local retailers."

  3. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To cause (a person or animal) to lose spirit or will; to crush the spirits of. To turn an animal into a beast of burden.

    Examples:

    "Her child's death broke Angela."

    "Interrogators have used many forms of torture to break prisoners of war."

    "The interrogator hoped to break her to get her testimony against her accomplices."

    "You have to break an elephant before you can use it as an animal of burden."

  4. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    To be crushed, or overwhelmed with sorrow or grief.

    Examples:

    "My heart is breaking."

  5. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To interrupt; to destroy the continuity of; to dissolve or terminate.

    Examples:

    "I've got to break this habit I have of biting my nails."

    "to break silence; to break one's sleep; to break one's journey"

    "I had won four games in a row, but now you've broken my streak of luck."

  6. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To ruin financially.

    Examples:

    "The recession broke some small businesses."

  7. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To violate, to not adhere to.

    Examples:

    "When you go to Vancouver, promise me you won't break the law."

    "He broke his vows by cheating on his wife."

    "'break one's word"

    "Time travel would break the laws of physics."

  8. Break as a verb (intransitive, of a fever):

    To pass the most dangerous part of the illness; to go down, in terms of temperature.

    Examples:

    "Susan's fever broke at about 3 AM, and the doctor said the worst was over."

  9. Break as a verb (intransitive, of a, _, spell of settled, _, weather):

    To end.

    Examples:

    "The forecast says the hot weather will break by midweek."

  10. Break as a verb (intransitive, of a, _, storm):

    To begin; to end.

    Examples:

    "We ran to find shelter before the storm broke."

    "Around midday the storm broke, and the afternoon was calm and sunny."

  11. Break as a verb (intransitive, of morning, dawn, day etc.):

    To arrive.

    Examples:

    "Morning has broken."

    "The day broke crisp and clear."

  12. Break as a verb (transitive, gaming, _, slang):

    To render (a game) unchallenging by altering its rules or exploiting loopholes or weaknesses in them in a way that gives a player an unfair advantage.

    Examples:

    "Changing the rules to let white have three extra queens would break chess."

    "I broke the RPG by training every member of my party to cast fireballs as well as use swords."

  13. Break as a verb (transitive, intransitive):

    To stop, or to cause to stop, functioning properly or altogether. To cause (some feature of a program or piece of software) to stop functioning properly; to cause a regression.

    Examples:

    "On the hottest day of the year the refrigerator broke."

    "Did you two break the trolley by racing with it?"

    "Adding 64-bit support broke backward compatibility with earlier versions."

  14. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To cause (a barrier) to no longer bar. To cause the shell of (an egg) to crack, so that the inside (yolk) is accessible. To open (a safe) without using the correct key, combination or the like.

    Examples:

    "'break a seal"

  15. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To destroy the arrangement of; to throw into disorder; to pierce.

    Examples:

    "The cavalry were not able to break the British squares."

  16. Break as a verb (intransitive, of a wave of water):

    To collapse into surf, after arriving in shallow water.

  17. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    To burst forth; to make its way; to come into view.

  18. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    To interrupt or cease one's work or occupation temporarily.

    Examples:

    "Let's break for lunch."

  19. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To interrupt (a fall) by inserting something so that the falling object does not (immediately) hit something else beneath.

    Examples:

    "He survived the jump out the window because the bushes below broke his fall."

  20. Break as a verb (transitive, ergative):

    To disclose or make known an item of news, etc.

    Examples:

    "The newsman wanted to break a big story, something that would make him famous."

    "I don't know how to break this to you, but your cat is not coming back."

    "In the latest breaking news..."

    "When news of their divorce broke, ..."

  21. Break as a verb (intransitive, of a [[sound]]):

    To become audible suddenly.

  22. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To change a steady state abruptly.

    Examples:

    "His coughing broke the silence."

    "His turning on the lights broke the enchantment."

    "With the mood broken, what we had been doing seemed pretty silly."

  23. Break as a verb (copulative, informal):

    To suddenly become.

    Examples:

    "Things began breaking bad for him when his parents died."

    "The arrest was standard, when suddenly the suspect broke ugly."

  24. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    Of a male voice, to become deeper at puberty.

  25. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    Of a voice, to alter in type due to emotion or strain: in men generally to go up, in women sometimes to go down; to crack.

    Examples:

    "His voice breaks when he gets emotional."

  26. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To surpass or do better than (a specific number), to do better than (a record), setting a new record.

    Examples:

    "He broke the men's 100-meter record."

    "I can't believe she broke 3 under par!"

    "The policeman broke sixty on a residential street in his hurry to catch the thief."

  27. Break as a verb (sports, and, games):

    To win a game (against one's opponent) as receiver. To make the first shot; to scatter the balls from the initial neat arrangement. To remove one of the two men on (a point).

    Examples:

    "He needs to break serve to win the match."

    "Is it your or my turn to break?"

  28. Break as a verb (transitive, military, most often in the, _, passive tense):

    To demote, to reduce the military rank of.

  29. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To end (a connection), to disconnect.

    Examples:

    "The referee ordered the boxers to break the clinch."

    "The referee broke the boxers' clinch."

    "I couldn't hear a thing he was saying, so I broke the connection and called him back."

  30. Break as a verb (intransitive, of an [[emulsion]]):

    To demulsify.

  31. Break as a verb (intransitive, sports):

    To counter-attack

  32. Break as a verb (transitive, obsolete):

    To lay open, as a purpose; to disclose, divulge, or communicate.

  33. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    To become weakened in constitution or faculties; to lose health or strength.

  34. Break as a verb (intransitive, obsolete):

    To fail in business; to become bankrupt.

  35. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To destroy the strength, firmness, or consistency of.

    Examples:

    "to break flax"

  36. Break as a verb (transitive):

    To destroy the official character and standing of; to cashier; to dismiss.

  37. Break as a verb (intransitive):

    To make an abrupt or sudden change; to change the gait.

    Examples:

    "to break into a run or gallop"

  38. Break as a verb (intransitive, archaic):

    To fall out; to terminate friendship.

  1. Break as a noun:

    An instance of breaking something into two or more pieces.

    Examples:

    "The femur has a clean break and so should heal easily."

  2. Break as a noun:

    A physical space that opens up in something or between two things.

    Examples:

    "The sun came out in a break in the clouds."

    "He waited minutes for a break in the traffic to cross the highway."

  3. Break as a noun:

    A rest or pause, usually from work.

    Examples:

    "Let’s take a five-minute break."

  4. Break as a noun (UK):

    a time for students to talk or play.

  5. Break as a noun:

    A short holiday.

    Examples:

    "a weekend break on the Isle of Wight"

  6. Break as a noun:

    A temporary split with a romantic partner.

    Examples:

    "I think we need a break."

  7. Break as a noun:

    An interval or intermission between two parts of a performance, for example a theatre show, broadcast, or sports game.

  8. Break as a noun:

    A significant change in circumstance, attitude, perception, or focus of attention.

    Examples:

    "big break'"

    "lucky break, bad break'"

  9. Break as a noun:

    The beginning (of the morning).

    Examples:

    "[[daybreak daybreak]]"

    "at the break of day"

  10. Break as a noun:

    An act of escaping.

    Examples:

    "make a break for it, for the door"

    "It was a clean break."

    "prison break'"

  11. Break as a noun:

    The separation between lines or paragraphs of a written text.

  12. Break as a noun (British, weather):

    A change, particularly the end of a spell of persistent good or bad weather.

  13. Break as a noun (sports, _, and, _, games):

    A game won by the receiving player(s). The first shot in a game of billiards The number of points scored by one player in one visit to the table The counter-attack A place where waves break (that is, where waves pitch or spill forward creating white water).

    Examples:

    "The final break in the Greenmount area is Kirra Point."

  14. Break as a noun (dated):

    A large four-wheeled carriage, having a straight body and calash top, with the driver's seat in front and the footman's behind.

  15. Break as a noun (equitation):

    A sharp bit or snaffle.

  16. Break as a noun (music):

    A short section of music, often between verses, in which some performers stop while others continue.

    Examples:

    "The fiddle break was amazing; it was a pity the singer came back in on the wrong note."

  17. Break as a noun (music):

    The point in the musical scale at which a woodwind instrument is designed to overblow, that is, to move from its lower to its upper register.

    Examples:

    "Crossing the break smoothly is one of the first lessons the young clarinettist needs to master."

  1. Break as a noun (music):

    A section of extended repetition of the percussion break to a song, created by a hip-hop DJ as rhythmic dance music.

  1. Crack as a verb (intransitive):

    To form cracks.

    Examples:

    "It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack."

  2. Crack as a verb (intransitive):

    To break apart under pressure.

    Examples:

    "When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked."

  3. Crack as a verb (intransitive):

    To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

    Examples:

    "Anyone would crack after being hounded like that."

  4. Crack as a verb (intransitive):

    To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.

    Examples:

    "When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked."

  5. Crack as a verb (intransitive):

    To make a cracking sound.

    Examples:

    "The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six."

  6. Crack as a verb (intransitive, of a voice):

    To change rapidly in register.

    Examples:

    "His voice cracked with emotion."

  7. Crack as a verb (intransitive, of a pubescent boy's voice):

    To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.

    Examples:

    "His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen."

  8. Crack as a verb (intransitive):

    To make a sharply humorous comment.

    Examples:

    "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked."

  9. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To make a crack or cracks in.

    Examples:

    "The ball cracked the window."

  10. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.

    Examples:

    "You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut."

  11. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To strike forcefully.

    Examples:

    "She cracked him over the head with her handbag."

  12. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To open slightly.

    Examples:

    "Could you please crack the window?"

  13. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative)

    Examples:

    "They managed to crack him on the third day."

  14. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To solve a difficult problem.

    Examples:

    "I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight."

  15. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To overcome a security system or a component.

    Examples:

    "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."

  16. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To cause to make a sharp sound.

    Examples:

    "to crack a whip"

  17. Crack as a verb (transitive):

    To tell (a joke).

    Examples:

    "The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke."

  18. Crack as a verb (transitive, chemistry, informal):

    To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.

    Examples:

    "Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C."

  19. Crack as a verb (transitive, computing):

    To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.

    Examples:

    "That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it."

  20. Crack as a verb (transitive, informal):

    To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.

    Examples:

    "I'd love to crack open a beer."

    "Let's crack a [[tube]] and watch the game."

  21. Crack as a verb (obsolete):

    To brag, boast.

  22. Crack as a verb (archaic, colloquial):

    To be ruined or impaired; to fail.

  1. Crack as a noun:

    A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

    Examples:

    "A large crack had formed in the roadway."

  2. Crack as a noun:

    A narrow opening.

    Examples:

    "We managed to squeeze through a crack in the rock wall."

    "Open the door a crack."

  3. Crack as a noun:

    A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

    Examples:

    "I didn't appreciate that crack about my hairstyle."

  4. Crack as a noun:

    A potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.

  5. Crack as a noun (onomatopoeia):

    The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.

    Examples:

    "The crack of the falling branch could be heard for miles."

  6. Crack as a noun (onomatopoeia):

    Any sharp sound.

    Examples:

    "The crack of the bat hitting the ball."

  7. Crack as a noun (informal):

    An attempt at something.

    Examples:

    "I'd like to take a crack at that game."

  8. Crack as a noun (vulgar, slang):

    Vagina.

    Examples:

    "I'm so horny even the crack of dawn isn't safe!"

  9. Crack as a noun (informal):

    The space between the buttocks.

    Examples:

    "Pull up your pants! Your crack is showing."

  10. Crack as a noun (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland):

    Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; good company.

    Examples:

    "The crack was good."

    "That was good crack."

    "He/she is quare good crack."

    "The party was great crack."

  11. Crack as a noun (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland):

    Business; events; news.

    Examples:

    "What's the crack?"

    "What's this crack about a possible merger."

  12. Crack as a noun (computing):

    A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.

    Examples:

    "Has anyone got a crack for DocumentWriter 3.0?"

  13. Crack as a noun (Cumbria, elsewhere throughout the North of the UK):

    a meaningful chat.

  14. Crack as a noun (Internet slang):

    Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.

  15. Crack as a noun:

    The tone of voice when changed at puberty.

  16. Crack as a noun (archaic):

    A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.

    Examples:

    "He has a crack."

  17. Crack as a noun (archaic):

    A crazy or crack-brained person.

  18. Crack as a noun (obsolete):

    A boast; boasting.

  19. Crack as a noun (obsolete):

    Breach of chastity.

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Shakespeare"

  20. Crack as a noun (obsolete):

    A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.

  21. Crack as a noun (slang, dated, UK):

    A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.

    Examples:

    "I'll be with you in a crack."

  1. Crack as an adjective:

    Highly trained and competent.

    Examples:

    "Even a crack team of investigators would have trouble solving this case."

  2. Crack as an adjective:

    Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.

    Examples:

    "She's a crack shot with that rifle."

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