noun
cracker
KRA-kuh
noun
1
A thin, crisp, usually savory baked snack.
"She spread cheese on a cracker for the party tray."
2
A small paper tube that pops and reveals a toy or prize, traditionally pulled apart at Christmas.
"Everyone pulled a cracker at the Christmas dinner table."
3
A firecracker.
"Kids set off crackers in the yard for the celebration."
4
Informal, often offensive: a poor white person from the southeastern United States, or, more broadly and offensively, any white person.
"The term "cracker" has a complicated and contested history in the American South."
How to Use Cracker
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA crisp baked snack, a Christmas party favor, a firecracker, or (as offensive slang) a term for a white person.
When to use it
The ethnic-slang sense is considered offensive by many and should be used carefully, if at all.
Common pairings
saltine cracker
Christmas cracker
graham cracker
Word Forms
crackers plural
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She spread cheese on a _____ for the party tray.
Etymology
From "crack," referring to the sharp snapping sound — the biscuit sense is first recorded in the 1700s; the ethnic slang sense has several competing theories, including a link to whip-cracking cattle drivers in the South.