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crack up

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crack someone or something up

to damage someone or something. (See also crack someone up.) Who cracked my car up? Who cracked up my car? Who was driving? The accident cracked him up a little.

See also: crack, up

crack someone up

to make someone laugh very hard; to make someone break out laughing. You and your jokes really crack me up. That comedian really knows how to crack up an audience.

See also: crack, up

crack something up

to crash something; to destroy something (in an accident). The driver cracked the car up in an accident. The pilot cracked up the plane.

See also: crack, up

crack up

 

1. to have a wreck. The plane cracked up and killed two of the passengers. Whose car cracked up on the expressway?

2. to break out in laughter. The whole audience cracked up. I knew I would crack up during the love scene.

3. Sl. to have a mental or emotional breakdown. The poor guy cracked up. It was too much for him. You would crack up, too, if you had been through all he went through.

4. an accident; a wreck. (Usually crack-up.) There was a terrible crack-up on the expressway. There were four cars in the crack-up.

See also: crack, up

crack up

1. to laugh She was very funny and we cracked up every time she said anything.

2. to become mentally ill I lost my appetite, became unable to sleep, and worried that I was cracking up.

See also: crack, up

crack up

1. Suffer an emotional breakdown, become insane, as in He might crack up under the strain. This usage alludes to the result of cracking one's skull; from the early 1600s to crack alone was used in this way. [Slang; early 1900s]

2. Damage or wreck a vehicle or vessel. For example, I'm always afraid that I'll crack up the car.

3. Experience a crash, as in We cracked up on the freeway in the middle of the ice storm.

4. Also, crack someone up. Burst or cause to burst out laughing, as in The audience cracked up, or That joke really cracked me up. [Slang; c. 1940] Also see break up, def. 6. All of these expressions derive from crack in the sense of "break into pieces" or "collapse," a usage dating from the late 1600s. Also see cracked up.

See also: crack, up

crack up

v.

1. To damage something or someone, as in an accident: I cracked up the car when I hit a tree. We gave him a remote control plane for his birthday, but he cracked it up on his very first flight.

2. To become damaged or wrecked: The plane cracked up when it hit the ground.

3. To praise someone or something highly, especially incorrectly. Often used in the passive: I am simply not the genius I'm cracked up to be. His friend cracked him up to be a great mechanic, but I thought his work was shoddy.

4. To have a mental or physical breakdown: We were afraid that the pilot might crack up under the stress.

5. To laugh very hard: She cracked up when I told her the joke.

6. To cause someone to laugh very hard: The funny movie cracked us up. The comedian cracked up the audience.

See also: crack, up

crack up

1. in. to have a wreck. The plane cracked up and killed two of the passengers.

2. in. to break out in laughter. I knew I would crack up during the love scene.

3. in. to have a nervous breakdown. The poor guy cracked up. It was too much for him.

4. n. an accident; a wreck. (Usually crack-up.) There was a terrible crack-up on the expressway.

See also: crack, up