Meanings
plural crackups · alternative crack-up
- A crash or wreck, generally involving a car or airplane.
1 more example
They shook the head of the unconscious pilot and when the latter opened his eyes, blinking wildly, the other members of the family lifted up the tail of the overturned crate sufficiently high enough to enable the dazed pilot, after releasing his belt, to fall out of the cockpit head first and disengage himself from the crack-up.
1936, Joseph R. James, "More Gates Air Circus Antics" (Popular Aviation, November 1936)
Origin
Deverbal from crack up.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
crackup. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crackup
“crackup.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crackup. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crackup,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crackup.
Source: crackup on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.