crack down on someone or something Definition

crack
verb cracked, cracking

tr & intr
1. To fracture or cause to fracture partially without falling to pieces.

Thesaurus: split, sever, break, cleave, rend, burst.
tr & intr
2. To split or make something split.
tr & intr
3. To make or cause to make a sudden sharp noise.
4. To strike sharply.

Thesaurus: strike, punch, clip, slap, clap, clout, pop.
tr & intr
5. To give way or make someone or something give way.

Example: He finally cracked under the pressure
6. To force open (a safe).
7. To solve (a code or problem).

Thesaurus: solve, decode, answer, figure out.
8. To tell (a joke).
intr
9. Said of the voice: to change pitch or tone suddenly and unintentionally.
tr & intr
10. chem.
To break down long-chain hydrocarbons produced during petroleum refining into lighter more useful short-chain products.

noun

1. A sudden sharp sound.
2. A partial fracture in a material produced by an external force or internal stress, often originating in a defective region of the material.

Thesaurus: crevice, fissure, cleft, rift, break, split, cut, chink.
3. A narrow opening.
4. A resounding blow.

Thesaurus: blow, hit, thwack, stroke.
5. colloq
A joke.
Thesaurus: joke, wisecrack, remark, return, witticism, jest.
6. slang
A highly addictive derivative of cocaine, consisting of hard crystalline lumps that are heated and smoked.
Form: crack cocaine (in full)

adj

1. colloq
Expert.
Example: a crack shot

Idiom: at the crack of dawn

colloq
At daybreak; very early.

Idiom: a fair crack of the whip

A fair opportunity.

Idiom: get cracking

colloq
To make a prompt start with a journey, undertaking, etc.

Idiom: have a crack at something

colloq
To attempt it.

Etymology: Anglo-Saxon cracian to resound.

Phrasal Verb: crack down on someone or something

To take firm action against them or it.

Phrasal Verb: crack up

To suffer an emotional breakdown.

Phrasal Verb: crack something up

To praise it extravagantly; giving the impression that it is better than it is.
Example: This job is not all it's cracked up to be