Heading
1837. Dickens, Oliver Twist, p. 124. The crack failed, said Toby, faintly.
1841. G. W. Reynolds, Pickwick Abroad, ch. xxvi. But should the traps be on the sly, For a change we'll have a crack.
1841. Leman Rede, Sixteen-String Jack, Act i., Sc. 5. Come on, then! A sweet ride of a dozen miles, just to cool one's head, then for the crack; and then back to London.
1889. Answers, 13 April, p. 313. Such inscriptions as 'Poor Joe from the Dials in for a crack,' meaning 'Poor Joe from Seven Dials in for a burglary,' are numerous.
6. (thieves').—A burglar. [See sense 5, and cf., Cracksman.]
1749. Life of Bampfylde-Moore Carew. Suffer none, from far or near, With their rights to interfere; No strange Abram, ruffler crack.
1857. Punch, 31 Jan. (from slang song). That long over Newgit their Worships may rule, As the High-toby, mob, crack, and screeve model school.
7. (colloquial).—An approach to perfection. Cf., sense 8.
1825. English Spy, p. 255. Most noble cracks and worthy cousin trumps, permit me to introduce a brother of the togati.
1864. Glasgow Herald, 5 April. 'Report of R. N. Y. Club.' This vessel (one of Fyfe's cracks) being almost new, and coppered, will be free from the objectionable fouling which is so great a drawback to the use of iron yachts.
1871. London Figaro, 17 Oct. Does it mean that the crack is a thing of the past, and that the learned author is no longer to be considered as a crack?
1889. Answers, March 23, p. 265, col. 3. Warders are not, thank goodness, first-rate shots, but even a crack would find it difficult to hit a man's head appearing for only a moment or two in probably a heavy fog.
8. (turf).—A racehorse eminent for speed. Hunting: a famous 'mount.' [An extension of the usage in sense 7.]
1853. Diogenes II., 271. 'The Betting Boy's Lament.' Cesarewitch, Cambridgeshire now No longer for me have a charm; the cracks may be ranged in a row, But for me they've no fear nor alarm.
1864. Derby Day, p. 38. Sir Bridges Sinclair would not scratch a horse—no, not if it was ever so, let alone a Derby crack.
1871. Standard, 6 Nov. Unlimited gossip as to the welfare and chances of forthcoming cracks.
1883. The Echo, Feb. 7, p. 3, col. 6. I give below a few of the probable starters for the Waterloo Cup, including all the cracks.
1884. Hawley Smart, From Post to Finish, p. 155. Of course he was au courant with all the rumours concerning the Panton Lodge crack.
9. (vagrants').—Dry firewood.
1851-61. H. Mayhew, London Lab. and Lon. Poor, vol. I., p. 358. The next process is to look for some crack (some dry wood to light a fire).
Adj. (colloquial).—Approaching perfection; used in a multitude or combinations. A crack hand is an adept or 'dabster'; a crack corps, a brilliant regiment; a crack whip, a good coachman; etc. As a connecting link between the adjective and the earlier use of crack, cf., The crack.
1836. W. H. Smith, The Individual, 13 Nov. 'The Thieves' Chaunt.' Her duds are bob—she's a kinchin crack, and I hopes as how she'll never back.
1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (July). And such a crack-shot myself, that fellows were shy of insulting me.
1859. Whitty, Political Portraits, p. 106. But he [the Earl of Shaftesbury] has insisted on a recognition of the facts of our appalling civilisation, and that was a good deal to do, which none other than a Peer and crack Christian could hope to do. Ibid, p. 288. The whippers-in will never receive instructions to find the addresses of the brilliances of Union debating clubs, bar messes, and crack newspapers.
1865. M. E. Braddon, Henry Dunbar, ch. xx. Who was moreover a crack shot, a reckless cross-country-going rider, and a very tolerable amateur artist.
