colloq. or slang. [CRACK sb. 16, used attrib.] Pre-eminent, superexcellent, ‘first-class.’
1793. Young, Ann. Agric., XIX. 95. [Sheep] called here [Suffolk] a crack flock, which is a provincial term for excellent.
1807. W. Taylor, in Ann. Rev., V. 186. Crack regiments.
1837. T. Hook, Jack Brag, xiv. My sleeping-room … was the crack apartment of the hotel.
1839. Thackeray, Fatal Boots (1869), 365. I was … such a crack-shot myself, that fellows were shy of insulting me.
1884. Christian World, 14 Aug., 612/1. It wasn’t … the crack speakers that brought the crowds up.
