What does "crane" mean?
Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
Crane
/kɹeɪn/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
- Grammar: crane is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: andiron, basket, be lengthy, be prolonged.
- Useful contrasts: hand crank, lower, manual hoist.
- Usage evidence: On top of the statue, Sadako is holding a golden crane over her head.
How to use "crane"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "crane" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "crane" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "crane" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "crane" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "crane" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "andiron" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "crane", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any bird of the family Gruidae, large birds with long legs and a long neck which is extended during flight.
"Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises."
- 2 The cranium. obsolete
- 3 Alternative form of cran (“measure of herrings”). alt-of, alternative
- 4 large long-necked wading bird of marshes and plains in many parts of the world wordnet
- 5 Ardea herodias, the great blue heron. US, dialectal
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 lifts and moves heavy objects; lifting tackle is suspended from a pivoted boom that rotates around a vertical axis wordnet
- 7 A mechanical lifting machine or device, often used for lifting heavy loads for industrial or construction purposes.
"Large cranes were virtually non-existent in the areas I worked with this truck, so we jacked everything on and off[.]"
- 8 An iron arm with horizontal motion, attached to the side or back of a fireplace for supporting kettles etc. over the fire.
- 9 A siphon, or bent pipe, for drawing liquors out of a cask.
- 10 A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.
Verb
- 1 To extend (one's neck). ambitransitive
"and my bachelor's hearth is imbedded where by much craning of head and neck I can catch sight of a sycamore in the Square garden,"
- 2 stretch (the neck) so as to see better wordnet
- 3 To raise or lower with, or as if with, a crane. transitive
"What engines, what instruments are used in craning up a soul, sunk below the centre, to the highest heavens."
- 4 To pull up before a jump. intransitive
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname. countable
- 2 A placename:; A minor river in Dorset, England, which becomes the Moors River near Verwood; the name is a back-formation from Cranborne. countable, uncountable
- 3 A placename:; A minor river in Greater London, England, which joins the Thames near Twickenham. countable, uncountable
- 4 A placename:; A town in Martin County, Indiana, United States. countable, uncountable
- 5 A placename:; A town in Stone County, Missouri, United States. countable, uncountable
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 A placename:; A census-designated place in Harney County, Oregon, United States. countable, uncountable
- 7 A placename:; A city, the county seat of Crane County, Texas, United States. countable, uncountable
- 8 A placename:; An unincorporated community in Bath County, Virginia, United States. countable, uncountable
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"On top of the statue, Sadako is holding a golden crane over her head."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "crane"?
Common synonyms include: andiron, basket, be lengthy, be prolonged, belong, chain.
How do you use "crane" in a sentence?
On top of the statue, Sadako is holding a golden crane over her head.
How do you pronounce "crane"?
Pronounced /kɹeɪn/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, *kranō, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”). Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Low German Kroon (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.
Etymology 2
From Middle English crane, cranee, from Old French cran, from Medieval Latin crānium.
Etymology 3
* As an English surname, from the noun crane. * As a Dutch surname, spelling variant of Krane. * As a German surname, adaptation of Krahn and Krahnich.