Other forms: crackling, crackles, crackled
To crackle is to make a rapid series of small sharp snaps — a wood fire, a radio with bad reception, dry leaves underfoot, a bag of crisps.
The word is imitative and does its own describing, which is why it needs almost no explanation to a listener. It works as both verb and noun: the fire crackled, a crackle on the line. There is a figurative use worth having — the air crackled with tension — meaning something felt charged and about to happen, and it is a favourite of sports and political writing. Compare crack, which is one sound, and crunch, which is heavier and slower.
1verbcrackleTo make a rapid series of small sharp sounds.
“The fire crackled all evening.”
2nounseriesThat series of small sharp sounds.
“There was a crackle on the line and then nothing.”
3verbfeelTo feel charged with energy or tension.
“The room crackled the moment she walked in.”
crackle is a sound.
Middle English
crakelen
English, today
crackle
From Middle English crakelen, equivalent to crack + le. The physics sense is part of a facetious sequence "snap, crackle, pop", after the mascots of Rice Krispies cereal.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA