Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Cracker |
CrackerNoun1. A thin crisp wafer made or flour and water with or without leavening and shortening; unsweetened or semisweet. 2. A poor white person in the southern US. 3. Firework consisting of a small explosive charge and fuse in a heavy paper casing. 4. A party favor consisting of a paper roll (usually containing candy or a small favor) that pops when pulled at both ends. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "cracker" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1595. (references) |
Note: Cracker \Crack"er\ (kr[a^]k"[~e]r), noun. 1. One who, or that which, cracks. 2. A noisy boaster; a swaggering fellow. [Obsolete]. (Websters 1913) |
| Domain | Definition |
Computing | Cracker n. One who breaks security on a system. Coined ca. 1985 by hackers in defense against journalistic misuse of hacker (q.v., sense 8). An earlier attempt to establish `worm' in this sense around 1981-82 on Usenet was largely a failure. Use of both these neologisms reflects a strong revulsion against the theft and vandalism perpetrated by cracking rings. The neologism "cracker" in this sense may have been influenced not so much by the term "safe-cracker" as by the non-jargon term "cracker", which in Middle English meant an obnoxious person (e.g., "What cracker is this same that deafs our ears / With this abundance of superfluous breath?" - Shakespeare's King John, Act II, Scene I) and in modern colloquial American English survives as a barely gentler synonym for "white trash". While it is expected that any real hacker will have done some playful cracking and knows many of the basic techniques, anyone past larval stage is expected to have outgrown the desire to do so except for immediate, benign, practical reasons (for example, if it's necessary to get around some security in order to get some work done). Thus, there is far less overlap between hackerdom and crackerdom than the mundane reader misled by sensationalistic journalism might expect. Crackers tend to gather in small, tight-knit, very secretive groups that have little overlap with the huge, open poly-culture this lexicon describes; though crackers often like to describe _themselves_ as hackers, most true hackers consider them a separate and lower form of life. Ethical considerations aside, hackers figure that anyone who can't imagine a more interesting way to play with their computers than breaking into someone else's has to be pretty losing. Some other reasons crackers are looked down on are discussed in the entries on cracking and phreaking. See also samurai, dark-side hacker, and hacker ethic. For a portrait of the typical teenage cracker, see warez d00dz. Source: Jargon File. |
Literature | Cracker So called from the noise it makes when it goes off. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Occupations | Tends mill and separating equipment that grinds scrap or devulcanized rubber to reclaim and reprocess rubber: Turns handwheel to adjust clearance between corrugated rollers of machine to accommodate stock. Loads rubber into machine hopper. Starts machine and observes stock to ensure passage through rollers. May use magnetic device to remove metal particles from ground scrap rubber. Moves handtrucks, containing rubber stock, into position for loading. May clean or replace clogged shaker screen that sifts out oversize pieces. May pick bead wires from ground rubber tire scrap [BEAD PICKER (rubber reclaim.)]. May be designated according to type of grinding as Fine Grinder (rubber reclaim.). (references) |
| Pulverizes pieces of enamel to be used in decorating jewelry settings, using mortar and pestle: Places lumps of enamel crystals in mortar and crushes them by striking pestle with hammer. Pours pulverized material through sieve. Recrushes those pieces that do not pass through sieve. (references) | |
Slang | Adjective. Source: The English word for a rectangular piece of un-levened bread, racist word for "white man". Definition: White person. Context: Members of the group call eachother this word in a joking sense, it is a frequent greeting among members. Social Source: South Eugene High School Students. Source: Compiled by The University of Oregon. (additional references) |
Slang in 1811 | CRACKER. Crust, sea biscuit, or ammunition loaf; also the backside. Farting crackers; breeches. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Cracker is an American alternative rock band, fronted by former Camper Van Beethoven singer Dave Lowery. They had a few minor hits in the early 1990s, including "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" and "Low". In 1995, Cracker contributed the song "Good Times Bad Times" to the Encomium tribute album to Led Zeppelin.
Though still a going concern, they have essentially been a cult act since about 1995.
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Such crackers also exist in the UK, but cream crackers (like Jacobs) are perhaps more popular. They are similar to the above crackers and are often eaten with cheese.
See also Food. (From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
See the Jargon File for a view of the history of hacker and hacking.
See also cracking, software cracking, Hacker (Computer Criminal), phreaking. (From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Long term residents of Florida and Georgia, in particular, call themselves Florida Crackers or Georgia Crackers to distinguish themselves from more recent immigrants to the state. Despite this usage, the use of the word "cracker" in the racial sense is a prosecutable offense under the Florida Hate Crimes statute. (From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Fitz is a classic antihero, unfaithful to his wife, alcoholic, addicted to gambling, manic, foulmouthed and sarcastic; and yet cerebral and excellent at his speciality: getting into the head of violent criminals.
As is usual with British television drama, Cracker was flawlessly cast. As well as Coltrane, the show starred Christopher Eccleston as his 'boss', Bilborough, Geraldine Somerville as love interest Jane 'Panhandle' Penhaligon, Lorcan Cranitch as loose cannon Jimmy Beck, Barbara Flynn as Fitz's long suffering wife and Kieran O'Brien as his teenage son. When Eccleston's character was killed off by disturbed soccer fan Albie (memorably played by guest star Robert Carlyle), Ricky Tomlinson took over as the police boss.
Since each case spanned several episodes, cliff-hangers were quite often used.
Some of the plotlines seemed to take as their starting point real events such as the Hillsborough disaster, but to keep the stories about discovery this generally did not lead where one might have thought.
A huge number of psychotic types were explored during the run of the show, but towards the end it may have taken the actors' full abilities to keep the increasingly convoluted psychological motivations believable.
Another problem that stressed the later period of the series was the continually developing overarching storyline between the regular characters. It did not give additional support to the viewers' willing suspension of disbelief. First Fitz had an affair with Penhaligon. Then Penhaligon was raped, and this strand of the plot may have drawn too much attention from the cases. Someone may claim that this stress between the regular characters' work environment and the work itself provided drama. But sometimes too much really is too much.
Also some might argue that toward the end, Fitz's ebullient charisma may have crossed the line into grandstanding.
A U.S remake of the series also called Cracker and starring Robert Pastorelli as Gerry Fitzgerald was created in 1997. The series consisted of 16 hour-long episodes, many of which were almost identical to the original series. Justto confuse matters, Robbie Coltrane appears as a villain in one of the US episodes. When the U.S. show was shown in Britain it was retitled Fitz.
See also other meanings of cracker.Discography
Albums:
Compilations:
Cracker (biscuit)
Cracker (computing)
Cracker (socio-demographic)
Cracker (TV series)
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cracker."
Synonyms: CrackerSynonyms: banger (n), cracker bonbon (n), firecracker (n), redneck (n), snapper (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Food | Beef, bisquit, bun; cornstarch; cookie, cooky; cracker, doughnut; fatling; hardtack, hoecake, hominy; mutton, pilot bread; pork; roti, rusk, ship biscuit; veal; joint, piece de resistance, roast and boiled; remove, entremet; releve, hash, rechauffe, stew, ragout, fricassee, mince; pottage, potage, broth, soup, consomme, puree, spoonmeat; pie, pasty, volauvent; pudding, omelet; pastry; sweets; kickshaws; condiment. |
Furnace | Noun: furnace, stove, kiln, oven; cracker; hearth, focus, combustion chamber; athanor, hypocaust, reverberatory; volcano; forge, fiery furnace; limekiln; Dutch oven; tuyere, brasier, salamander, heater, warming pan; boiler, caldron, seething caldron, pot; urn, kettle; chafing-dish; retort, crucible, alembic, still; waffle irons; muffle furnace, induction furnace; electric heater, electric furnace, electric resistance heat. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Cracker |
| English words defined with "cracker": Cannon cracker ♦ graham cracker ♦ oyster cracker ♦ pretzel ♦ saltine, Scalloped oysters, soda cracker. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cracker": B&CMA ♦ COCOA-BEAN ROASTER II, COCOA-BEAN-ROASTER HELPER, crack root ♦ iron box ♦ KEN CRACKER, KEN MILLER ♦ lamer, leapfrog attack ♦ phacker ♦ roaster helper ♦ some random X ♦ The Cuckoo's Egg ♦ warez, WarGames. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Cracker" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. German (cracker), Italian (cracker), Portuguese (cracker), Swedish (cracker). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I wash born here, an I wash raished here, and dad gum it, I am gonna die here, an no sidewindin bushwackin, hornswaglin, cracker croaker is gonna rouin me bishen cutter. (Blazing Saddles; writing credit: Andrew Bergman; Mel Brooks) All I asked him to do was buy some peanuts and cracker jacks. (Family Guy; writing credit: Dolores Payás) I'd like to dip you in cheese and spread you all over a cracker. (Bringing Down the House; writing credit: Jason Filardi) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Christmas Cracker (1962) Egg Cracker Suite (1943) Animal Cracker Circus (1938) Cracker (1997) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books | |||
Periodicals |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Consumer Goods | |||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | (2) color slides show different types of crackers. (1) a single whole graham cracker next to a broken in half graham cracker, (1) two whole round plain crackers (Ritz crackers). Credit: Renee Comet (photographer). |  | Dichelostemma ida-maia, commonly known as Fire Cracker Plant. Credit: Unknown. |
 | Medium shot of fire cracker plant (Dichelostemma ida-maia). Credit: Unknown. |  | He says he wants a dozen poses for some cracker advertisements. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Three roosters sitting on cracker box. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | I didn't dream that was a giant cracker when I threw it!. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Speaker of the House Joe Cannon standing outside Convention Hall watching "Danville, Ill. Cannon Boomers" group try to light "The Cannon Cracker". Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Georgia cracker types. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Bob Manchester's Cracker Jacks everything new. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | 3 cracker jacks. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | Fauchelevent, who had taken a seat, sprang up as if a cracker had burst under his chair. |
Grapes of Wrath | Steinbeck, John | Outside Ruthie and Winfield were waiting, their eyes strained, their cheeks puffed and full of Cracker Jack. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Business | This latest cracker turns its owner, the Formosa Plastic Group, into an industry giant. (references) | |
There is also a project for expanding the National Organic Chemicals Industries Limited cracker at Thane-Belapur (Maharashtra). (references) | ||
This industrial area located in Yulin county boasts a privately-owned Naphtha cracker which gives middle stream companies close proximity to their needed feedstocks. (references) | ||
Economic History | Dominican Rep | Other private wheat mills, originally designed to supply wheat products to the pasta and cracker industry, continue to process and supply more than half the wheat demanded by the baking industry. (references) |
Saudi Arabia | Core Venture I area will be developed by Exxon/Mobil Corporation (35%), the Royal Dutch/Shell Group (25%), BP (25%), and Phillips Petroleum Company (15%). Investments include a 1 million ton a year ethane cracker, a 2,000 MW power plant and a 150 million gallon a day desalination plants in Jubail and Yanbu. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Cracker" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Cracker" is used about 173 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 173 | 23,656 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "cracker": be cracker ♦ cannon cracker ♦ cat cracker ♦ catalytic cracker ♦ cracker barrel ♦ cracker bonbon ♦ cracker box ♦ cracker crumbs ♦ Cracker State ♦ fire cracker ♦ graham cracker ♦ oyster cracker ♦ safe cracker ♦ skull cracker ♦ soda cracker ♦ swedish cracker. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "cracker": cracker-ass, cracker-barrel, cracker-wise. | |
Ending with "cracker": code-cracker, nut-cracker, safe-cracker, whip-cracker, Wit-cracker. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "cracker"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | kërcaskë, fishekzjarr (fire works, skyrocket), biskotë e thatë. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | كسارة الجوز (nutcracker), الكذاب (bouncing, liar, storyteller), المتبجح (boaster, bouncer, brag, egoist, egotist, popinjay, windbag), رقائق (flake), بسكويتة رقيقة. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | суха твърда бисквита, трошачка (breaker, crackers, crusher, disintegrator, mill, pulverizer), лъжа (bung, cram, deception, falsehood, have on, inveracity, leasing, lie, lurk, play possum with, pose, tell a lie, tell lies, two time, untruth), бомбичка, бедняк (pauper). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 餅乾 (biscuit, cookie), 薄脆饼干 (crackers). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | suchar (biscuit, rusk), sušenka (biscuit, cookie, shortbread), senzaèní vìc, prskavka (sparkler, squib), kreker, kost (bone, skirt), keks (biscuit, cookie), fešák (dish, mod), bomba (bomb, slog), štramák. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | knaldeffektladning, kineser (Chinaman, Chinese), hampetov. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | klapper (cocoanut, cocoa-nut, coconut, coco-nut), hennepkabel. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | فندق شکن (Caliper, Calliper, Nutcracker), یکجورشیرینی , کلوچه کوچک , ترقه . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | rouhinköysi. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | pétard, craquelin. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | cracker, Sprengbüchse, Reißer (big seller, hot item, shocker, thriller, thrillers), kracher (banger), kräcker, Knacker (click), keks (biscuit, cookie), bombenschuss (unstoppable shot), bombe (bomb, bombshell). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | βαρελότο (petard). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | מצי" (wafer). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | ostorvég (whipcord). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indonesian | biskuit (biscuit, Dutch rusk). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | petardo (firecracker, maroon, petard, squib). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 乾パン (hard biscuit, hardtack), クラスター分析 (class library, class magazine, class media, classmate, cluster analysis, clustering, clutch, clutch bag, clutch hitter, clutch pedal, crack, cracking, craft, craft design, craftsman, crash, crusher, crust). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | か"パン (hard biscuit, hardtack), クラッカー . (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 크래커 (crackers). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | brishtag (biscuit). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ackercray cracker, colapso (collapse, debacle, drop, fit), quebra (breach, breaking, failure, fracture, offscourings, smash, snap, violation, wastage, waste), petardo (petard), mentira (bung, canard, caulker, corker, crack, cram, crammer, do, fable, fairytale, falsehood, have-on, humbug, invention, leasing, lie, lying, mendacity, phoney, phony, tall tale, taradiddle, untruth), foguete explosivo, busca-pé (squib), bolacha (snap, soda cracker), biscoitos, biscoito torrado. (various references) spãrgãtor de nuci (nutcracker), pocnitoare (fire cracker), plesnitoare (squib), pişcot. (various references) сухое печенье (biscuit, bisque, cracknel, snap), ложь (crammer, fabrication, falsehood, fib, leasing, lie, lying, mendacity, taradiddle, terminological inexactitudes, untruth), дробилка (breaker, cruncher, crusher, disintegrator, grinder, kibbler). (various references) siromašni belac, praskava bombica, kreker. (various references) petardo (banger, firecracker, fireworks, maroon, petard, thunderflash). (various references) smällkaramell. (various references) kraker, kıracak, fişek (cartridge, girandole, shell, squib), bisküvi (biscuit, cookie, cooky). (various references) удар (bat, beat, biff, bobbing, buffet, bunt, cant, chop, clap, hit, impact, impingement, impulsion, jolt, kick, knock, onslaught, percussion, pick, push, put, shock, shot, smite, spat, stab, strike, stroke, tick, tilt, wap), хлопавка (flapper, fly-flap, petard, slapstick), крекер, падіння (bathos, come down, demission, downfall, drop, dropping, fall, falling, labefaction, subsidence, tumble, upset). (various references) máy nghiền (breaker, crusher, disintegrator, masticator, mill, pounder, triturator), dở chứng g n. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "cracker": crackerjack, crackerjacks, crackers. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "cracker": firecracker, hydrocracker, nutcracker, safecracker, shellcracker, wisecracker. (additional references) | |
Words containing "cracker": firecrackers, gimcrackeries, gimcrackery, hydrocrackers, nutcrackers, safecrackers, shellcrackers, wisecrackers. (additional references) | |
| |
"Cracker" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cacke, Carker, chacker, cracka, crackel, cracken, Crackerama, cracket, Crackow, Cracoe, cranker, crecca, Crickey, criker, Crockard, Cruckerne, Krucker. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "cracker" (pronounced kra"ker) |
| 4 | -r a" k er | racker, tracker. |
| 3 | -a" k er | attacker, backer, blacker, hacker, lacquer, makar, packer, slacker, Stacker, tacker. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-c-c-e-k-r-r" | |
-1 letter: racker, rerack. | |
-2 letters: carer, crack, crake, creak, racer, raker. | |
-3 letters: acre, cake, care, cark, carr, ceca, race, rack, rake, rare, rear, reck. | |
-4 letters: ace, arc, are, ark, car, ear, era, err, kae, kea, rec. | |
-5 letters: ae, ar, er, ka, re. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-c-c-e-k-r-r" | |
+1 letter: crackers. | |
+2 letters: carjacker, corncrake, cracklier, racetrack. | |
+3 letters: carjackers, corncrakes, cornerback, nutcracker, racetracks. | |
+4 letters: cornerbacks, crackerjack, crackleware, firecracker, gimcrackery, nutcrackers, racetracker, safecracker, wisecracker. | |
+5 letters: checkerboard, crackbrained, crackerjacks, cracklewares, firecrackers, hydrocracked, hydrocracker, racetrackers, safecrackers, shellcracker, wisecrackers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Derivations 14. Rhymes 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
