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Glite Dictionary
🗝️ Opening a safe 🛠️ For opening safes
safecracking

safecracking

1 9.4
The act of opening a locked safe without the key, usually illegally
  • noun
  • /ˈseɪfˌkrækɪŋ/
translation icon : forzamiento de cajas fuertes
  • During the trial, the expert explained the different techniques used in safecracking to the jury.

Examples

  • The police are investigating a string of safecracking incidents that have occurred in the downtown area.

  • Yeah, does he do sermons on safecracking?

    Have a Little Faith (2011)

  • A safecracking spook and a blue-eyed peckerwood.

    Dark Blue (2002)

  • I've got a little gadget right here in my pocket that will do anything, from manicuring to safecracking.

    The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)

  • But heavily defended plants often have specialized natural enemies that can bypass defenses, just as there are thieves that specialize in safecracking.

    Academic text (1993)

  • The detective revealed new evidence in the recent safecracking case that had baffled investigators for months.

Surface Forms

safecracking singular
safecrackings plural

Morphology

safecracking = safecrack (transparent) = safe + crack + ing

Formed from the compound 'safe' + 'crack' with the productive verbal -ing; the meaning 'the act of opening a safe' follows directly from the parts.

Etymology

Safecracking comes from the words safe, a 'strong box' for money or valuables, and crack, which means 'to break open' — think of 'cracking' an egg. So safecracking is the act of opening a safe without the key or permission.