The Phrasal Verb 'Crack Up' Explained
- Phrasal Verbs Explained
- Nov 14, 2025
- 10 min read
An explanation of the different meanings of the English phrasal verb 'crack up' from a native speaker, with lots of examples in context
Hello and welcome to my website for English learners all about phrasal verbs where I explain their different meanings to help you understand, learn and use them like a native.
This article is all about 'crack up', which is a very informal phrasal verb with a surprising number of meanings. In the article, I will explain the different meanings that it has in English, including some American uses that British speakers do not tend to say. For each different application, I will provide you with lots of example sentences in context to show you how to use it and impress all of your English-speaking friends and colleagues. So, without further ado, let's make a start....
TABLE OF CONTENTSÂ (Click to jump to each one)
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THE BASICS
CRACK UP: KEY INFORMATION
Usage | Medium |
Number of meanings | |
Past tense forms | Cracked up / Cracked up |
Separable? | Sometimes |
In this post, we will explore five different ways to use the phrasal verb 'crack up' with a bonus section at the end explaining how you can use it as a noun. First of all however, let's take a moment to consider the two lexical stars of the show, 'to crack' and 'up', and what they mean on their own.
To crack - The verb 'to crack' is relatively uncommon in English and has a couple of meanings. The most common of these, and the one that has the most pertinence for the phrasal verb 'crack up' is 'to break without separating into separate parts', often caused by weakness or an impact. If something cracks in this way, a jagged line on its surface is normally visible and these are most commonly seen on windows, phone screens and walls. We can also use the noun 'crack' to refer to this line. In addition, 'to crack' can also mean 'to make a short, loud sound' and 'to hit a part of your body e.g. your head', among other rarer meanings.
Elaine accidentally cracked the glass while washing the dishes.
The ice on the lake began to crack under the weight of the ice skaters.
I cracked my phone screen when I dropped it on the floor.
The whip cracked loudly in the air.
Dave almost cracked his head getting out of the car.
Up - The super common prepositional particle 'up' is undoubtedly the one that is found most often in phrasal verbs and can be used to add various ideas to them, ranging from an upwards movement (stand up), to notions including preparation (set up), increase (go up), improvement (look up) and separation (break up).
So, now that we have considered the basics, let's move on to the different meanings of the phrasal verb 'crack up'....
MEANING 1: To damage or break something into pieces
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | American English |
Potential synonyms | To crack, to break up |
Separable? | Yes |
Perhaps rather unexpectedly, we are going to start our exploration of the meanings of the phrasal verb 'crack up' with a rarer meaning, which is 'to damage something or to be broken into pieces'.
Nouns commonly used with this application....
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The reason for starting with this one is that it is perhaps the closest to the literal meaning of the combination of the two words, with the pairing of the idea of something cracking with the meaning of separation that we get from the word 'up'.
Usually, we reserve the use of this application to talk about surfaces and physical objects that develop cracks and often (but not always) break into separate pieces as a result.
On a grammatical level, you should note that this is typically used in an intransitive way (without a direct object) to talk about when damage occurs as the result of something like an accident or impact, without stating the agent or person who caused the damage.
The ice started to crack up under the weight of the lorry.
My grandmother's old vase cracked up when it fell off the shelf.
John's windshield cracked up after being hit by a stone whilst he was driving along the main road.
The wall outside our house cracked up badly during the earthquake.
The frozen ground will crack up when the temperature rises.
Personally, 'crack up' would not be my first choice in some of the example sentences above, as I would usually just use 'crack' on its own or in other cases 'break up' or 'smash'.
Another way that 'crack up' is used in this way in American English is to describe damage that occurs to vehicles like cars, airplanes and trains occurs when they have been involved in an accident or collision.
The boat cracked up on the rocks during the tsunami. .
The plane cracked up on landing, but luckily nobody was seriously hurt
It can also be used in some cases informally to mean 'to crash' or 'to collide' with something and here it implies a serious accident. I must admit that as a British English speaker, this is a completely new meaning for me but from what I understand from my research, this usage is one that you will still see in American newspapers and media, however it is becoming a bit dated, with verbs like 'to smash up' and 'to wreck' now replacing it.
Note that when used to talk about an accident, it can be used both transitively (with a direct object) and intransitively (without a direct object), as I will show you in the sentences below....
The car cracked up on the highway and was found on the grass verge.
The helicopter cracked up shortly after it took off.
The old car has finally cracked up after years of rough driving.
Billy cracked up his father’s truck trying to drive it in the snow.
MEANING 2: To laugh a lot
CEFR Language Level | B2 - Upper intermediate |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To burst out laughing, to be in hysterics, to fall about |
Separable? | Yes |
We will move now from a usage of 'crack up' that I am not so familiar with to our second application, which I am VERY familiar with, and which means 'to laugh a lot'.
To clarify, when I say 'to laugh a lot', I do not mean to laugh many times over a period of time but rather to laugh very hard or in an uncontrollable or enthusiastic way. When we use 'crack up' like this, we are talking about the kind of laughter that makes you want to pee yourself or that stops you breathing normally, i.e. when something is extremely funny. Furthermore, it is often when the laughter is sudden or spontaneous.
Grammatically speaking, you should note that with this application, we can use it both transitively (to talk about moments when we start laughing) and intransitively (to talk about something that causes us to start laughing). For example, you can say that you always crack up when you watch a specific movie or that a scene in that particular movie always cracks you up. Moreover, it is a fairly informal usage that is mainly found in spoken English and casual writing.
I always crack up when I watch that stand-up comedian.
My teenage children crack up at the silliest things.
The whole class cracked up when the teacher slipped on the loose mat.
Kelly was cracking me up with her impressions of our boss.
Margaret had cracked me up so much with her holiday stories that I couldn’t breathe.
That joke cracked me up so much that I nearly cried.
He's so funny, he really cracks me up!
MEANING 3: To have a mental breakdown
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Common |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To go mad |
Separable? | No |
We've just looked at the positive application of 'crack up' and now I'm sorry that I have to bring down the mood as this next application is a very negative one and means 'to have a mental breakdown'.
First of all, to clarify what I mean by the term 'mental breakdown', it is when a person becomes mentally or emotionally unwell due to having a lot of pressure and strain in their lives. This could often be work stress, worries about finances, coping with the strain of family, or often a combination of two or more of these.
It is a form of mental illness and is characterised by different symptoms such as extreme anxiety, paranoia, insomnia (not being able to sleep) and neglecting your physical health and hygiene.
If you say that a person 'cracks up', it is a very informal way of saying that they have developed some, or all, of these symptoms as a result of stress in their lives. Note that unlike the previous application, we do not tend to use this one in a transitive, separable way, so you would not typically say that something cracks a person up. If you did, it would be understood as it made him or her laugh (as in the previous application).
Some people crack up under constant work stress.
Deborah cracks up every time things get out of control at work.
My sister’s cracking up trying to manage a stressful job, school, and family.
Some of the contestants are cracking up under the pressure of the competition.
After the scandal, the politician completely cracked up and was forced to go away to a retreat for several weeks to recover.
Josie cracked up when her marriage ended.
Pete cracked up from exhaustion after working nonstop for months.
She’ll crack up if she doesn’t take a break soon.
MEANING 4: To be reputed to be
CEFR Language Level | C1 - Advanced |
Usage | Medium |
Where is it used? | Everywhere |
Potential synonyms | To be reputed to be |
Separable? | No |
We have now arrived at our fourth and final meaning of the phrasal verb 'crack up', which is 'to be reputed to be'.
For this one, let me first explain what I mean by 'to be reputed to be' as it may not seem clear to you at the moment. If you're not familiar with the verb 'to repute', you may at least know its noun 'reputation', which is definitely more widespread in English. In short, 'to repute' means 'to be thought of in a certain way by a lot of people'. It is quite an interesting verb as it is only really ever used in its passive form 'to be reputed to be...', which means 'to have a reputation as / for something'. For example, if a restaurant has a reputation for being very good, you could also say that "the restaurant is reputed to be very good".
So, what about 'crack up'? Well, 'to be cracked up to be' is just a synonym of saying 'to be reputed to be' and means that people hold certain shared beliefs or opinions about something. Therefore, it can be used when you want to say if your own personal experience of something corresponded with its reputation or not.
That new bar on George Street is cracked up to be really good.
The new phone model is every bit as impressive as it’s cracked up to be.
This book is exactly what it’s cracked up to be; a modern classic! I loved it!
In the example sentences above, I have shown how this application of 'crack up' is used in a positive sense, but the majority of the time it is in fact used in a negative sense. When used negatively, it implies that something is not worthy or deserving of its good reputation...see the examples below....
The movie wasn’t all it was cracked up to be; it was actually pretty boring.
Life in the city isn’t as wonderful as it’s cracked up to be. It's noisy, dirty and expensive.
The restaurant wasn’t everything it was cracked up to be. We waited a long time for our food and my wife's main course was not cooked enough.
Working from home isn’t as easy as it’s cracked up to be. It can get very lonely.
The job sounded amazing, but it wasn't what it was cracked up to be and I left soon after starting.
BONUS: The noun 'crack-up'
So, now that you are familiar with the different ways that you can use 'crack up' as a phrasal verb, let me just briefly explain how we can use it as a noun. There are in fact two different meanings of its noun form and both of these are connected to the phrasal verbs meanings that we have already looked at....
Meaning 1 = a mental or emotional breakdown. This is quite a rare usage but I think you would understand it very well based on the phrasal verb meaning....
Neil's crack-up came after months of trying to hide his anxiety.
Everyone thought Sue was fine until her sudden crack-up last year.
Meaning 2 = A physical accident, crash or collision. As with the phrasal verb meaning, this is a very American usage.
The pilot sadly died in the plane crack-up.
Our car was badly damaged in the crack-up on the freeway.
We have now reached the end of this post and I just want to say thank you for clicking on my post and reading it. I hope that you've enjoyed it and have been able to learn something new about the phrasal verb 'crack up'. If you enjoyed this post, please go ahead and check out some of my other posts.
Now it is YOUR turn. Can you think of a sentence yourself using 'crack up'. Write it in the comments section below if you can, or alternatively any comments, suggestions or feedback that you may have....don't be shy!!!
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