Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Decomposition of a complex substance by the application of steam, a catalyst, or heat, especially the breaking of petroleum molecules into shorter molecules to extract low-boiling fractions such as gasoline.
  • adjective Excellent; great.
  • adverb Used as an intensive.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of breaking; a breaking or snapping.
  • noun A more or less loud sound of breaking or snapping; a resounding noise.
  • noun A process by which a compound made up of elements of varying volatility may be analyzed and the components separated by successively raising the temperature of the mixture, so that they are distilled off successively in the order of their volatility: used specifically of petroleum compounds, which in the refining process are separated by increasing the temperature of distillation.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun the act of cracking something.
  • noun (Chem.) the process of making lower molecular weight hydrocarbons from heavier hydrocarbons in petroleum, by exposure to heat and catalysts. It is used to convert heavier alkanes into gasoline, or to improve the octane number of an alkane mixture.
  • adjective informal same as groovy, sense 1.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun chemistry The thermal decomposition of a substance, especially that of crude petroleum in order to produce petrol / gasoline.
  • noun The formation of cracks on a surface
  • adjective Great
  • adjective Enjoyable.
  • adverb UK Very, usually associated with praise.
  • verb Present participle of crack.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective very good
  • noun the act of cracking something
  • noun the process whereby heavy molecules of naphtha or petroleum are broken down into hydrocarbons of lower molecular weight (especially in the oil-refining process)
  • noun a sudden sharp noise

Etymologies

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