different between boom vs crack

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: boo?m
  • (UK) IPA^(key): /bu?m/
  • (US) IPA^(key): /bum/
• Rhymes: -u?m

Etymology 1

Onomatopoeic, perhaps borrowed; compare German bummen, Dutch bommen (“to hum, buzz”).

Verb

boom (third-person singular simple present booms, present participle booming, simple past and past participle boomed)

1. To make a loud, hollow, resonant sound.
2. (transitive, figuratively, of speech) To exclaim with force, to shout, to thunder.
3. Of a Eurasian bittern, to make its deep, resonant territorial vocalisation.
4. (transitive) To make something boom.

5. (slang, US, obsolete) To publicly praise.
   • 1922, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Problem of Thor Bridge

     If you pull this off every paper in England and America will be booming you.

6. To rush with violence and noise, as a ship under a press of sail, before a free wind.
   • 1841, Benjamin Totten, Naval Text-book and Dictionary […]

     She comes booming down before it.

Derived terms

• boom box
• boom-boom
• sonic boom

Translations

Noun

boom (plural booms)

1. A low-pitched, resonant sound, such as of an explosion.

2. A rapid expansion or increase.

3. One of the calls of certain monkeys or birds.
   • 1990, Mark A. Berkley, William C. Stebbins, Comparative Perception

     Interestingly, the blue monkey's boom and pyow calls are both long-distance signals (Brown, 1989), yet the two calls differ in respect to their susceptibility to habitat-induced degradation.

Translations

Interjection

boom

1. Used to suggest the sound of an explosion.

2. Used to suggest something happening suddenly and unexpectedly.
   • 1993, Vibe (volume 1, number 2)

     So we went around the corner, looked in the garbage, and, boom, there's about 16 of the tapes he didn't like!

   • 2013, Peter Westoby, Gerard Dowling, Theory and Practice of Dialogical Community Development

     Hostile race relations and chronic unemployment are ignored in the suburbs of Paris, London and Sydney, and boom! there are riots.

Derived terms

• sis boom bah

Translations

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Dutch boom (“tree; pole”). Doublet of beam.

Noun

boom (plural booms)

2. (nautical) A spar extending the foot of a sail; a spar rigged outboard from a ship's side to which boats are secured in harbour.
3. A movable pole used to support a microphone or camera.
4. (by extension) A microphone supported on such a pole.
5. A horizontal member of a crane or derrick, used for lifting.
6. (electronics) The longest element of a Yagi antenna, on which the other, smaller ones are transversally mounted.
7. A floating barrier used to obstruct navigation, for military or other purposes; or used for the containment of an oil spill or to control the flow of logs from logging operations.
8. A wishbone-shaped piece of windsurfing equipment.
9. The section of the arm on a backhoe closest to the tractor.
10. A gymnastics apparatus similar to a balance beam.

Derived terms

• boomhouse
• boomstick

Related terms

• (nautical): buoy, cathead
• crane

Translations

Verb

boom (third-person singular simple present booms, present participle booming, simple past and past participle boomed)

1. To extend, or push, with a boom or pole.

2. (usually with "up" or "down") To raise or lower with a crane boom.

Etymology 3

Perhaps a figurative development of Etymology 1, above.

Noun

boom (plural booms)

1. (economics, business) A period of prosperity, growth, progress, or high market activity.

Antonyms

• (period of prosperity): recession

Descendants

• ? German: Boom
• Indonesian: bum
• ? Japanese: ??? (b?mu)
• ? Polish: boom

Translations

Verb

boom (third-person singular simple present booms, present participle booming, simple past and past participle boomed)

1. (intransitive) To flourish, grow, or progress.

   Synonyms: flourish, prosper
2. (transitive, dated) To cause to advance rapidly in price.

Derived terms

• boom town

Translations

Anagrams

• MOBO, mobo, moob

Afrikaans

Etymology

From Dutch boom, from Middle Dutch bôom, from Old Dutch b?m, boum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b??m/

Noun

boom (plural bome, diminutive boompie)

1. tree

Dutch

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch bôom, from Old Dutch b?m, from Proto-West Germanic *baum, from Proto-Germanic *baumaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bo?m/
• Hyphenation: boom
• Rhymes: -o?m

Noun

boom m (plural bomen, diminutive boompje n)

1. tree
2. any solid, pole-shaped, usually wooden object
   1. beam
   2. mast

      Synonym: mast

   3. boom

      Synonym: giek

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: boom
• ? English: boom
• ? Indonesian: bom (“tree, pole”), bum
• ? Sranan Tongo: bon

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English boom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bu?m/
• Hyphenation: boom

Noun

boom m (plural booms, diminutive boompje n)

1. boom, as in a market explosion

Derived terms

• babyboom
• boomer

References

• M. J. Koenen & J. Endepols, Verklarend Handwoordenboek der Nederlandse Taal (tevens Vreemde-woordentolk), Groningen, Wolters-Noordhoff, 1969 (26th edition) [Dutch dictionary in Dutch]

See also

• boom on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Boom in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

French

Alternative forms

• boum

Etymology

Borrowed from English boom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bum/

Noun

boom m (plural booms)

1. boom (dramatically fast increase)

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English boom, from Dutch boom - see above.

Noun

boom m (invariable)

1. A boom (sound)
2. A boom, rapid expansion
3. A boom (crane)

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch b?m, from Proto-West Germanic *baum.

Noun

bôom m

1. tree
2. beam, pole
3. boom barrier

Inflection

This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: boom
• Limburgish: boum

Further reading

• “boom”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “boom (I)”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, ?ISBN, page I

Polish

Etymology

From English boom.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bum/

Noun

boom m inan

1. (economics, business) boom (period of prosperity)
2. boom (rapid expansion or increase)

Declension

Further reading

• boom in Wielki s?ownik j?zyka polskiego, Instytut J?zyka Polskiego PAN
• boom in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from English boom.

Noun

boom m (plural booms)

1. (economics, business) boom (period of prosperity)

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from English boom.

Noun

boom m (plural booms)

1. boom (period of prosperity or high market activity)

See also

• bum

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k?æk/
• Rhymes: -æk

Etymology 1

From Middle English crakken, craken, from Old English cracian (“to resound, crack”), from Proto-West Germanic *krak?n, from Proto-Germanic *krak?n? (“to crack, crackle, shriek”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gerh?- (“to resound, cry hoarsely”).

Cognate with Scots crak (“to crack”), West Frisian kreakje (“to crack”), Dutch kraken (“to crunch, creak, squeak”), Low German kraken (“to crack”), German krachen (“to crash, crack, creak”), Lithuanian gìrgžd?ti (“to creak, squeak”), Old Armenian ?????? (karka??), Sanskrit ?????? (gárjati, “to roar, hum”).

Verb

crack (third-person singular simple present cracks, present participle cracking, simple past and past participle cracked)

2. (intransitive) To form cracks.

   It's been so dry, the ground is starting to crack.

3. (intransitive) To break apart under pressure.

   When I tried to stand on the chair, it cracked.

4. (intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

   Anyone would crack after being hounded like that.

5. (intransitive) To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.

   When we showed him the pictures of the murder scene, he cracked.

6. (intransitive) To make a cracking sound.

   The bat cracked with authority and the ball went for six.

7. (intransitive, of a voice) To change rapidly in register.

   His voice cracked with emotion.

8. (intransitive, of a pubescent boy's voice) To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.

   His voice finally cracked when he was fourteen.

9. (intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.

   "I would too, with a face like that," she cracked.

10. (transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.

    The ball cracked the window.

11. (transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.

    You'll need a hammer to crack a black walnut.

12. (transitive) To strike forcefully.

    She cracked him over the head with her handbag.

13. (transitive) To open slightly.

    Could you please crack the window?

14. (transitive) To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure. (Figurative)

    They managed to crack him on the third day.

15. (transitive) To solve a difficult problem. (Figurative, from cracking a nut.)

    I've finally cracked it, and of course the answer is obvious in hindsight.

16. (transitive) To overcome a security system or a component.

    It took a minute to crack the lock, three minutes to crack the security system, and about twenty minutes to crack the safe.

    They finally cracked the code.

17. (transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.

    to crack a whip
18. (transitive) To tell (a joke).

    The performance was fine until he cracked that dead baby joke.

19. (transitive, chemistry, informal) To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.

    Acetone is cracked to ketene and methane at 700°C.

20. (transitive, computing) To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.

    That software licence will expire tomorrow unless we can crack it.

21. (transitive, informal) To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.

    I'd love to crack open a beer.

    Let's crack a tube and watch the game.

    • 1894, The Strand (volume 8, page 569)

      Old Bouvet was waiting in the passage when I entered, and he asked me whether we might not crack a bottle of wine together.

22. (obsolete) To brag, boast.
23. (archaic, colloquial) To be ruined or impaired; to fail.

    • The credit […] of exchequers cracks, when little comes in and much goes out.

Derived terms

Related terms

• crazed (exhibiting fine-line cracks)

Translations

See also

• hack

Noun

crack (countable and uncountable, plural cracks)

2. A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

3. A narrow opening.
4. A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

5. (slang) Crack cocaine, a potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.
   1. (figuratively, humorous) Something good-tasting or habit-forming.
6. (onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.

7. (onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.
8. A sharp, resounding blow.
   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, ch 11:

     Mrs. Perkins, who has not been for some weeks on speaking terms with Mrs. Piper in consequence for an unpleasantness originating in young Perkins' having "fetched" young Piper "a crack," renews her friendly intercourse on this auspicious occasion.

9. (informal) An attempt at something.

10. (vulgar, slang) Vagina.

11. (informal) The space between the buttocks; the buttcrack.

12. (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; good company.
    • 2001, William F. Gray, The Villain, iUniverse, p. 214:

      Being a native of Northumberland, she was enjoying their banter and Geordie good humour. This was what she needed — good company and good crack.

    • 2004, Bill Griffiths, Dictionary of North East Dialect, Northumbria University Press (quoting Dunn, 1950)

      "his a bit o' good crack — interesting to talk to"

    • 2006, Patrick McCabe, Winterwood, Bloomsbury 2007, p. 10:

      By the time we've got a good drunk on us there'll be more crack in this valley than the night I pissed on the electric fence!

13. (Northern England, Scotland, Ireland) Business; events; news.

    What's this crack about a possible merger.

14. (computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.

15. (hydrodynamics, US, dated) An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave through the air above the water.
16. (Cumbria, elsewhere throughout the North of the UK) a meaningful chat.
17. (Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.
18. The tone of voice when changed at puberty.
    • a. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 2

      And let us, Polydore, though now our voices / Have got the mannish crack, sing him to the ground, …

19. (archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.

20. (archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.
21. (obsolete) A boast; boasting.
22. (obsolete) Breach of chastity.
    • a. 1611, William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 5, Scene 5

      But think her bond of chastity quite crack'd, I having ta'en the forfeit. …

23. (obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.
24. (slang, dated, Britain) A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.

Usage notes

• (Scots language, common in lowland Scotland and Ulster, conviviality): In the last few decades the word has been adopted into Gaelic; as there is no "k" in the Irish language the spelling craic has been devised.

Synonyms

• (vulgar: space between the buttocks): bum crack (UK), arse crack (UK), ass crack (US)
• (cocaine that is heat-altered at the moment of inhalation): crack cocaine
• (A crazy or crack-brained person): crackpot

Coordinate terms

• (phenomenon from underwater explosion): slick

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

1793 slang, of Unknown origin

Adjective

crack (not comparable)

1. Highly trained and competent.

2. Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.

Derived terms

• crack train
• crack troops

Related terms

• crackerjack

Translations

Finnish

Etymology

From English crack.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kræk/, [?kræk]

Noun

crack

1. crack (variety of cocaine)

Declension

French

Etymology

From English crack.

Noun

crack f (plural cracks)

1. crack (expert person)

crack f (uncountable)

1. crack (cocaine)

Portuguese

Etymology

From English crack.

Noun

crack m (plural cracks)

1. crack (variety of cocaine)
2. crack (computer program for bypassing license-related and other restrictions)

Further reading

• “crack” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology 1

From English crack.

Noun

crack m (plural cracks)

1. crack (variety of cocaine)
2. champion, ace, pro, wizard, dude (outstanding person)

Etymology 2

From English crash influenced by crack and crac.

Noun

crack m (plural cracks)

1. Alternative form of crac

Further reading

• “crack” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.