crack / krak/ • n. 1. a line on the surface of something along which it has split without breaking into separate parts. ∎  a narrow space between two surfaces, esp. ones that have broken or been moved apart: the door opened a tiny crack. ∎ fig. a vulnerable point; a flaw.2. a sudden sharp or explosive noise: a loud crack of thunder. ∎  a sharp blow, esp. one that makes a noise. ∎  a sudden harshness or change in pitch in a person's voice.3. inf. a joke, typically a critical or unkind one.4. [in sing.] inf. an attempt to gain or achieve something: I thought I had a crack at winning. ∎  a chance to attack or compete with someone: he wanted to have a crack at the enemy.5. (also crack cocaine) a hard, crystalline form of cocaine broken into small pieces and smoked.• v. 1. break or cause to break without a complete separation of the parts: [intr.] the ice all over the lake had cracked | [tr.] a stone cracked the headlight glass. ∎  break or cause to break open or apart: [intr.] the landmasses have cracked up and moved around | fig. [intr.] his face cracked into a smile | [tr.] she cracked an egg into the pan. ∎  [tr.] break (wheat or corn) into coarse pieces. ∎  [tr.] open slightly: gingerly, he cracks open his door. ∎ fig. give way or cause to give way under torture, pressure, or strain: [intr.] the witnesses cracked and the truth came out | [tr.] no one can crack them—they believe their story. ∎  [intr.] (crack up) inf. suffer an emotional breakdown under pressure. ∎  (crack up) inf. burst or cause to burst into laughter.2. make or cause to make a sudden sharp or explosive sound: [intr.] a shot cracked across the ridge | [tr.] he cracked his whip. ∎  [intr.] knock against something, making a noise on impact: she winced as her knees cracked against metal. ∎  [tr.] hit (someone or something) hard, making a sharp noise. ∎  [intr.] (of a person's voice, esp. that of an adolescent boy or a person under strain) suddenly change in pitch.3. [tr.] inf. find a solution to; decipher or interpret: a hacker cracked the codes used in Internet software. ∎  break into (a safe). ∎  succeed in achieving: he cracked a brilliant goal.4. [tr.] tell (a joke).5. [tr.] decompose (hydrocarbons) by heat and pressure with or without a catalyst to produce lighter hydrocarbons, esp. in oil refining.• adj. very good, esp. at a specified activity or in a specified role: he is a crack shot crack troops.PHRASES: crack a book inf. open a book and read it; study.crack of dawn a time very early in the morning; daybreak.cracked up to be inf. asserted to be (used to indicate that someone or something has been described too favorably): life on tour is not as glamorous as it's cracked up to be.crack wise inf. make jokes; wisecrack.fall (or slip) through the cracks escape from or be missed by something organized to catch or deal with one: fatherless kids were not allowed to fall through the cracks.get cracking inf. act quickly and energetically.PHRASAL VERBS: crack down on inf. take severe measures against.crack on (of a sailing vessel) sail in high winds with all sails unfurled.

CRACK

Crack (sometimes called crack-cocaine) is an illicit drug, the smokable form of CoCaine, made by adding the bases ammonia or baking soda and water to cocaine hydrochloride. The white powder illicitly purchased as cocaine is in the hydrochloride form; it cannot be smoked, because it is destroyed at the temperatures required for smoking. Therefore, in order to be used by the smoked route, cocaine must be converted to the base state. A mixture is made and heated to remove the hydrochloride, resulting in a pellet-sized cake-like solid substance that can be smoked. This form of cocaine is inexpensive, available for purchase "on the street," and is called "crack," because of the cracks formed in the solid as it dries.

Although crack can be smoked in tobacco cigarettes or marijuana cigarettes, it is generally smoked in a special crack pipe. In its simplest form, this is a glass tube with a hole at the top of one end and a hole at the other end through which the smoke is inhaled. The crack pellet is placed on fine wire mesh screens that cover the hole distal to the smoker and a flame is applied directly to the pellet. Soda bottles, small liquor bottles, etc. are all used to manufacture crack pipes. They have in common the use of fine mesh screens so that the crack is not lost as it melts. Temperatures of approximately 200°F (93°C) are most efficient in providing the largest amount of cocaine to the user. Higher temperatures destroy more of the cocaine.

Smoking cocaine began with the use of Free-Base cocaine, prepared by its users from the cocaine hydrochloride illicitly purchased by them. Soon after this form of cocaine had achieved its popularity, single doses of cocaine already prepared for smoking (i.e., crack), became available through the illicit drug market. Unlike the process for forming freebase cocaine, the crack manufacturing process does not rid the cocaine of its adulterants. Smoking cocaine rapidly became a popular route of administration once crack became readily available, since it was so convenient to use. Blood levels peak rapidly when cocaine is smoked, because of efficient respiratory absorption, and the smoked route of cocaine administration yields effects (peak, duration of effect, half-life) comparable to the intravenous route of administration. This means that the smoker of cocaine can achieve rapid onset of effect, including a cocaine "rush" and substantial cocaine blood levels, and can do this repeatedly using a more socially acceptable route of administration—one that requires none of the Paraphernalia associated with hardcore illicit drug use (e.g., syringes, needles, etc.).

The more rapid the onset of the drug effect, the more likely it is that the drug will be abused. Thus, although the effects of smoking crack are no different than the effects of cocaine by any other route, the ease with which the drug can be taken, combined with its toxicity make this an extremely dangerous substance.

From a financial perspective, crack is more desirable for both the buyer and the seller. A gram of cocaine hydrochloride costs approximately 50 to 60 dollars. This gram can be turned into 10 to 25 crack pellets, each selling for 2 to 20 dollars. Thus, a gram of cocaine can generate a substantial profit for the seller, and, as well, is available in single-dose units to anyone with only a few dollars to spend.

(See also: Coca Paste ; Freebasing ; Pharmacokinetics ; Street Value )

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Inciardi, J. A. (1991). Crack-cocaine in Miami. In S. Schober & C. Schade (Eds.), The epidemiology of cocaine use and abuse. NIDA Research Monograph No. 110. Rockville, MD: National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Siegel, R. (1982). Cocaine smoking. Journal of Psycho-active Drugs, 14, 271-359.

Marian W. Fischman

Crack

Crack (sometimes called crack cocaine) is the form of cocaine that is smoked. The white powder that people buy illegally as cocaine cannot be smoked, because it is destroyed at the temperatures required for smoking. Cocaine can be converted to crack by adding an alkaline , then heating the mixture, resulting in a pellet-sized, cakelike solid substance that can be smoked. Crack takes its name from the cracks formed in the solid as it dries. This form of cocaine is less expensive than powder cocaine and is available for purchase on the street.

Smoking cocaine began with the use of a preparation of cocaine called freebase. Soon after this form of cocaine became popular, single doses of crack cocaine already prepared for smoking became available through the illegal drug market. Although crack can be smoked in tobacco cigarettes or marijuana cigarettes, it is generally smoked in a special crack pipe.

Users adopted the smoking method of taking cocaine because smoking delivers the drug's effects quickly. Blood levels of cocaine peak rapidly when the drug is smoked, producing the cocaine "rush." The speed and duration of the effects are comparable to taking the drug by injection. Users of crack prefer smoking because it does not require the paraphernalia—syringes, needles, and so on—needed for injecting drugs.

Crack is an extremely dangerous substance because of its toxicity . Also, crack is dangerous because it is easy to use and available in single doses to almost anyone because of its relatively low price. The easier a drug is to obtain and the more rapidly it takes effect, the more likely it is that the drug will be abused.

see also Cocaine; Street Value.

crack
A. make a sharp short noise OE.; break with a sudden sharp report XIII
;
B. utter loudly or sharply XIV; (dial.) boast XVI (whence crack up eulogize XIX). OE. cracian sound, resound = (M)Du. krāken, OHG. krahhōn (G. krachen). The normal repr. of the OE. word, i.e. crake (now dial.), has been superseded by the short form by assoc. with (i) crack sb. XIV, or with (ii) F. craquer (XVI), of Gmc. orig.
Hence crack adj. pre-eminent, first-class. XVIII. cracked crazy. XVII. cracker †boaster, liar; kind of fire-work XVI; instrument for cracking or crushing XVII. crackle XVI; see -LE 3; whence crackling crisp skin of roast pork XVIII.

crack crack of dawn very early in the morning; the term (originally US) is recorded from the late 19th century.
crack of doom a thunder peal announcing the Day of Judgement; originally often as a quotation from Shakespeare's Macbeth.