crackle

Valid in Scrabble

Scrabble points
15
Words With Friends
18
Letters
7
Pronunciation
/ˈkɹækəl/

Definition of crackle

6 senses · 2 parts of speech · etymology included

noun

  1. A prolonged, frequent cracking sound; a fizzing, popping sound.
    “I heard a crackle from the frying pan as I was frying bacon.”
    “There was an annoying crackle during the phone call, due to poor connection.”
    “Then a superincumbent bundle rolled down, with a whisking noise, flames elongated, and bent themselves about with a quiet roar, but no crackle.”
    “The best clothes which every one put on helped the general effect; it seemed that no lady could sit down without bending a clean starched petticoat, and no gentleman could breathe without a sudden crackle from a stiff shirt-front.”
See all 6 definitions

noun

  1. A prolonged, frequent cracking sound; a fizzing, popping sound.
    “I heard a crackle from the frying pan as I was frying bacon.”
    “There was an annoying crackle during the phone call, due to poor connection.”
    “Then a superincumbent bundle rolled down, with a whisking noise, flames elongated, and bent themselves about with a quiet roar, but no crackle.”
    “The best clothes which every one put on helped the general effect; it seemed that no lady could sit down without bending a clean starched petticoat, and no gentleman could breathe without a sudden crackle from a stiff shirt-front.”
  2. A style of glaze giving the impression of many small cracks.
    “The Chinese attach great value to their crackle, which, though it looks like damaged glaze, is produced by art; […].”
  3. The fifth derivative of the position vector with respect to time (after velocity, acceleration, jerk, and jounce), i.e. the rate of change of jounce.
  4. Synonym of crackling (“crispy rind of roast pork”).
    “By the look on my face I must have anticipated the joy of the crackle, apparently having come to look forward to the roast pig that appeared only at gatherings such as this. I bet I asked for another piece once I was done.”

verb

  1. (intransitive)To make a prolonged, frequent cracking sound which sounds like fizzing or popping.
    “a crackling fire”
    “the unknown ice that crackles underneath them”
    “He felt the stress and strain of life, its fevers and sweats and wild insurgences—surely this was the stuff to write about! He wanted to glorify the leaders of forlorn hopes, the mad lovers, the giants that fought under stress and strain, amid terror and tragedy, making life crackle with the strength of their endeavor.”
  2. (figuratively, intransitive)To be full of tension or emotion.
    “The last scenes of the film crackle with repressed sexual energy.”

Definitions from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA.

Etymology

From Middle English crakelen, equivalent to crack + -le (frequentative suffix). The physics sense is part of a facetious sequence "snap, crackle, pop", after the mascots of Rice Krispies cereal.

Anagrams of crackle

2 plays · all valid Scrabble

Best play cackler 15 points

Hooks

2 extensions · 2 back

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