rajar

to split

verb rrah-HAHR Rare

Also means

to crack

Usage Note

Rajar literally means to split or crack something open (rajar un melón = 'to split a melon'). In colloquial Spain it also means 'to boast' or 'to blabber,' and the reflexive rajarse means 'to chicken out' or 'to back down from a commitment' — a sense absent in Latin America. Learners should treat rajarse as distinctly Peninsular slang and use context carefully.

Examples

"Rajó el tronco con un hacha."

Natural Translation

He split the log with an axe.

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