crack a smile

crack a smile

To smile. I got the baby to crack a smile by clapping and singing.

See also: crack, smile

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

crack a smile

to grin; to smile. I was tellin' my best jokes, but Jim never cracked a smile. She looked surprised, and then cracked a big, beautiful smile.

See also: crack, smile

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

crack a smile

Smile, as in Betty was a very serious person; she rarely cracked a smile. This colloquialism transfers crack in the sense of "break" to breaking a serious facial expression into a smile.

See also: crack, smile

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.