crackling

By surface analysis, crackle +‎ -ing.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkɹæk(ə)lɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

crackling (countable and uncountable, plural cracklings)

1. (cooking, often in the plural, US) Fat that, after roasting a joint, hardens and crispens
   • 1823, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], Elia. Essays which have Appeared under that Signature in The London Magazine, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC:

     For the first time in his life […] he tasted crackling.

2. (cooking, in the singular in British) The crispy rind of roast pork.
   • 2011 February 28, Arlene Diego, Step by Step Cooking Filipino: Delightful Ideas for Everyday Meals, Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd, →ISBN, page 54:

     To make chicken crackling, use 500 g (1 lb 1V2 oz) chicken skin. Wash and remove excess fats.

3. (cooking, countable) A crispy, fried skin or rind, especially of pork.
   • 2016 October 4, Eva Kosmas Flores, Adventures in Chicken: 150 Amazing Recipes from the Creator of AdventuresInCooking.com, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, page 26:

     ... but often forgotten are the equally delicious chicken cracklings. In this recipe, baguette slices spread with a delicious maple and sea salt butter are baked, then topped with crispy pan-fried chicken skin, sweet soft dates, […]

4. The making of small, sharp cracks or reports, frequently repeated.

   the bangs and cracklings of fireworks

5. (obsolete, usually in the plural) Food for dogs, made from the refuse of tallow melting.
6. Three stripes of velvet worn on the sleeves of students at St John's College, Cambridge.

• cracklin(s)

crackling (not comparable)

1. Sounding with small, sharp cracks or reports, frequently repeated.
   • 1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, Latimer and Ridley, page 68:

     —With wreathing spire
     Up went the crackling flame,—and that old man
     Forgetful of his anguish, boldly cried
     —"Courage, my brother!—we this day will light
     Such fire in christendom, as ne'er shall die."

crackling

1. present participle and gerund of crackle

• pork rind