crack a smile

to grin; to smile. I was tellin' my best jokes, but Jim never cracked a smile. She looked surprised, and then cracked a big, beautiful smile.

crack a smile

(informal)

to smile, especially when you do not feel like smiling (usually negative) The man barely cracked a smile at his friend's joke.

crack a smile

Smile, as in Betty was a very serious person; she rarely cracked a smile. This colloquialism transfers crack in the sense of "break" to breaking a serious facial expression into a smile.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Arnison	['a:nisn]
Trix	TRIKS	English
Tahnee	TAW-nee	English (Rare)
Jerrold	['dʒerəld]
Cecilio	the-THEE-lyo (Spanish), se-SEE-lyo (Latin American Spanish), che-CHEE-lyo (Italian)	Spanish, Portuguese, Italian
Andronikos	-	Ancient Greek