To crank is to turn or rotate something using a handle or lever. The earliest automobiles required drivers to crank the engine before they could climb in and start driving.
A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See
Noun
a hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle
Noun
amphetamine used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant
Noun
a whimsically eccentric person
Noun
a bad-tempered person
Verb
bend into the shape of a crank
Verb
fasten with a crank
Verb
rotate with a crank
Verb
start by cranking; "crank up the engine"
Verb
travel along a zigzag path; "The river zigzags through the countryside"
Adjective S.
(used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
n.
A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at
right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or
received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating
motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See Bell crank.
n.
Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
n.
A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change
of the form or meaning of a word.
n.
A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also,
a fit of temper or passion.
n.
A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or
impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a
particular matter.
n.
A sick person; an invalid.
n.
Sick; infirm.
n.
Liable to careen or be overset, as a ship when she is too
narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry
full sail.
n.
Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident;
opinionated.
n.
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind
and turn.
Crank
So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.3.
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.4.
Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks.5.
Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater.
Crank
He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty.
If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it.
Crank
See how this river comes me cranking in.
A bent portion of an axle, or shaft, or an arm keyed at right angles to the end of a shaft, by which motion is imparted to or received from it; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion. See
Sick; infirm.
To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
Usage Examples
When I was 15, my parents left town for a month. They hid the keys to the car, but I found them. That month, I drove my stepdad's Thunderbird Super Coupe into Manhattan every day, and I would crank Cypress Hill as I flew around the city, racing the taxis.
I am an enthusiast, but not a crank in the sense that I have some pet theories as to the proper construction of a flying machine. I wish to avail myself of all that is already known and then, if possible, add my mite to help on the future worker who will attain final success.
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Other Usage ExamplesWell in the end the world can crank itself up to sanctions, as it has with Zimbabwe, another sad case.
A person with a new idea is a crank until the idea succeeds.