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Glite Dictionary
to crap out

to crap out

13 9.6
To stop working or trying suddenly
  • phrasal verb
  • /kræp aʊt/
  • Offensive
translation icon : dejar de funcionar (aparatos)
  • Is that gonna crap out again?
  • I hope I don't crap out just now
  • I hope I don't crap out now

Examples

  • But the bonus has been my damn computer has decided to crap out on me!

    Blog text (2)

  • Either he's gone or your gear's crapped out again.

    Jaws: The Revenge (1987)

  • I came up here, you cannot crap out on me now.

    Before Sunset (2004)

  • Hey, my car crapped out on me.

    Moonfall (2022)

  • The whole system just crapped out on me.

    Deep Rising (1998)

  • My internet service crapped out.

    Blog text (13)

  • Whatever signal it was sending finally crapped out.

    Captain Marvel (2019)

  • I've had 4 or 5 hard drives that have crapped out in the same time frame.

    Blog text (30)

  • After all that—three filters and multiple water changes—the damn heater craps out without warning?

    Blog text (12)

  • My car has a tendency to crap out when I need it most.

Synonyms

to cut out
vsto crap out
45 4.1

To stop working suddenly

is broader and also covers quitting or failing from exhaustion
to go bad
vsto crap out
  • US
33 3.5

Stop working and need repair

is more sudden and often due to exhaustion or malfunction
to conk out
vsto crap out
  • Informal
7 8.1

To stop working suddenly or to fall asleep because of tiredness

is the same sudden stoppage but covers both people and machines
to flame out
vsto crap out
  • Informal
6 7.5

To fail suddenly after a good start

is similar but often involves plain exhaustion or mechanical failure
to poop out
vsto crap out
  • Informal
1 8.4

To become very tired or stop working

is sudden failure that can come from exhaustion or machine malfunction
to go kablooie
vsto crap out
  • Slang
9.9

To suddenly break or stop working in a dramatic way

is sudden failure that need not be destructive or explosive

Antonyms

to function
441 2.6

To work in a particular role or job

to persist
62 3.7

To keep doing something or keep holding a belief despite difficulty

How Well

to act up
  • Informal
28 4.8
to crap out
  • Offensive
13 9.6
to fail
898 1.0

Surface Forms

crap out infinitive
crapped out past
crapped out past participle
crapping out present participle
craps out third person singular

Morphology

crap + out

The verb sense 'to stop working/quit' arises from a slang/metaphorical extension of 'crap' combined with the particle 'out' (which often marks cessation). The relation is partially guessable from the particle but relies on informal, idiomatic use of 'crap' that many B1 learners may not know or expect, so the meaning is neither fully compositional nor completely opaque.

Etymology

Crap out likely comes from the dice game craps. One popular story says when the dice showed 'craps' the player lost right away, so the picture of crap + out came to mean failing, and today crap out means 'to stop working' or 'to give up'.