crack up

If something does this to someone, it makes them laugh a lot.

• That joke cracks me up.
• His silly dance cracked the children up.
• What was it that cracked you up so much?

How to use it: crack someone up (Your stories always crack me up.)

Similar words: amuse, make someone laugh

Common phrases: crack someone up, crack up an audience

If you do this, you start laughing a lot because something is very funny.

• We all cracked up.
• She cracked up at the funny photograph.
• I keep cracking up whenever I remember his face.

How to use it: crack up at something (We cracked up at his silly impression.)

Similar words: burst out laughing, laugh

Common phrases: crack up laughing, crack up at something

If someone or something does this, they stop coping or working properly, or break into pieces.

• The old system is cracking up.
• He cracked up under the pressure of the job.
• The ice began to crack up as the weather warmed.

How to use it: crack up under something (She feared she would crack up under the strain.)

Similar words: break down, fall apart

Common phrases: crack up under pressure, crack up completely

If you do this, you make jokes about someone, often about something embarrassing they did.

• They were cracking up at me about my hat.
• Stop cracking up at him about that mistake.
• Her friends cracked up at her about the awkward date.

How to use it: crack up at someone about something (He kept cracking up at me about my new haircut.)

Similar words: tease, make fun of

Common phrases: crack up at someone, crack up about something

If you do this, you make the members of a group separate or stop acting together.

• They tried to crack up the gang.
• Moving the pupils into different classes cracked up the clique.
• The dispute cracked their little group up.

How to use it: crack something up (The teacher tried to crack the clique up.)

Similar words: break up, disband

Opposites: unite

Common phrases: crack up a clique, crack up a group, crack something up

If you do this, you break and remove the hard outer covering of nuts.

• We cracked up some walnuts.
• She cracked up the pecans and saved the kernels.
• How many nuts can you crack up in an hour?

How to use it: crack up something (We cracked up the pecans before baking.)

Similar words: shell

Common phrases: crack up nuts, crack up pecans, crack up walnuts

Something described this way is very funny and makes people laugh.

• That story was crack up.
• Your brother is so crack up when he tells jokes.
• We watched a crack up video of a dancing dog.

Similar words: hilarious, funny

Common phrases: a crack up joke, a crack up story, so crack up