CRACKER (from " crack," a

See also:

• COMMON

common

See also:

• TEUTONIC
• TEUTONIC (GERMANIC) LANGUAGES

Teutonic word, cf. Ger. krachen, Dutch

See also:

• KRAKEN

kraken, meaning to break with a

See also:

• SHARP, GRANVILLE (1735-1813)
• SHARP, JAMES (1618-1679)
• SHARP, JOHN (1645-1714)
• SHARP, RICHARD (1759-1835)
• SHARP, WILLIAM (1749-1824)
• SHARP, WILLIAM (1856-1905)

sharp

See also:

• SOUND
• SOUND, THE (Danish Oresund)

sound)  , that which " cracks "; it is, therefore, applied (I) to a firework so constructed that it explodes with several reports and jumps at each explosion, when placed on the ground (see FIREWORKS); (2) to a roll of coloured and ornamented paper containing sweets, small articles of cheap jewelry, paper caps and other trifles, together with a strip of card with a fulminant which explodes with a " crack " on being pulled; (3) to a thin crisp biscuit (q.v.); in America the general name for a biscuit . In the southern states of America, " cracker " is a term of contempt for the " poor " or " mean whites," particularly of Georgia and Florida; the term is an old one and dates back to the Revolution, and is supposed to be derived from the "cracked corn " which formed the staple food of the class to whom the term refers .