2
a
: a mental collapse : nervous breakdown
his wife's death brought on his crack-up
cracked up; cracking up; cracks up
1
: praise, tout sense 1
wasn't all that it was cracked up to be
2
: to damage or destroy (a vehicle) by crashing
crack up a car
3
: to cause to laugh out loud
that joke really cracks him up
1
: to damage or destroy a vehicle (as by losing control)
cracked up on a curve
2
: to laugh out loud
Synonyms
Examples of crack-up in a Sentence
Noun
a crack-up required him to take a year off from work
two people were injured in a serious crack-up on the interstate
Verb
that sports car isn't all it's cracked up to be
the movie is being cracked up as the blockbuster of the summer
Recent Examples on the Web
airmail.news, 25 Jan. 2025
The prevailing explanation for the Ordovician Impact Spike had long been that a large body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter broke up as a result of a collision and the debris from that crack-up eventually found its way to Earth.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 18 Sep. 2024
Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025
My only expectations were to eat (more than) my share of Adam Aron’s popcorn and to watch my older daughter crack up seeing her favorite graphic novel come to life.
—Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 3 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for crack-up 
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Noun
Because even the most powerful companies are just participants in a broader world, and if the rage of those who are sacrificed to feed the bottom line wrecks that broader world, well, then a crack-up is coming.
—airmail.news, 25 Jan. 2025
The prevailing explanation for the Ordovician Impact Spike had long been that a large body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter broke up as a result of a collision and the debris from that crack-up eventually found its way to Earth.
—Jeffrey Kluger, TIME, 18 Sep. 2024
Verb
The story of Dieter that so cracks up Helena could also be interpreted as something about the pointlessness of trying to coexist with nature, when man is meant to conquer it.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2025
My only expectations were to eat (more than) my share of Adam Aron’s popcorn and to watch my older daughter crack up seeing her favorite graphic novel come to life.
—Tony Maglio, IndieWire, 3 Feb. 2025
See all Example Sentences for crack-up
Dictionary Entries Near crack-up
Cite this Entry
“Crack-up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crack-up. Accessed 16 Feb. 2025.
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