- present participle of crack.
cracking
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The Federal Trade Commission has been cracking down on longtime car-dealer tactics like advertising prices that fail to disclose mandatory fees and add-ons, with dealers and third-party sites like Cars.com and Autotrader.com scrambling to comply.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
The launch party for Alastair McKimm’s new magazine, Prototype, was cracking.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026
Decoder Ring, Slate’s podcast about cracking cultural mysteries, turns its investigatory powers inward to explore what exactly a “podcast” is these days, as more and more shows pivot from audio to video.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
Nepal is cracking down on online abuse directed at survivors of last month's deadly floods, with Prime Minister Balendra Shah warning that authorities will "show no leniency" to people who "belittle" those who are suffering.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
“Well, we’re alive,” I say, cracking a smile.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
All the Arctic peoples had been thrown into panic, and so had the animals, not only by the fog and the magnetic variations but by unseasonal crackings of ice and stirrings in the soil.
From "The Subtle Knife" by Philip Pullman
I said nothing, and Leper, having said so much, went on to say more, to speak above the wind and crackings as though his story would never be finished.
From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
The campus was impressive for what happened within its walls: chest crackings, organ transplants, molecular imagings, genetic probes, and virtually any other medical service known in the advanced world.
From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French
Away in the sun hay was being made and carried, with crackings of whips and distant voices.
From The Danvers Jewels, and Sir Charles Danvers by Mary Cholmondeley
With a shrill yell and more crackings of his whip he disappeared into the gloomy mouth of the covered bridge, and the roaring echoes followed him.
From The Skipper and the Skipped Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul by Holman Day
Vocabulary lists containing cracking
