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Crank

//kɹæŋk// adj, name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Hard; difficult. dialectal
  2. 2
    Strange; weird; odd. informal
  3. 3
    Bent; twisted; crooked; distorted; out of repair. dialectal
  4. 4
    Sick; unwell.
  5. 5
    Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast.

    "This ship is so crank and walty I fear our grave she will be!"

Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.

    "He who was a little before bedred[…]was now cranke and lustie."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname. countable, uncountable
  2. 2
    A small village in Rainford parish, St Helens borough, Merseyside, England (OS grid ref SJ5099). countable, uncountable
Noun
  1. 1
    An ailment, ache. dialectal
  2. 2
    A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.

    "I grind my coffee by hand with a coffee grinder with a crank handle."

  3. 3
    a hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle wordnet
  4. 4
    An ill-tempered or nasty person. informal

    "Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away."

  5. 5
    A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.; Clipping of crankshaft. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
Show 14 more definitions
  1. 6
    an amphetamine derivative (trade name Methedrine) used in the form of a crystalline hydrochloride; used as a stimulant to the nervous system and as an appetite suppressant wordnet
  2. 7
    A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim;
  3. 8
    The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.

    "Yes, a crank was all it needed to start."

  4. 9
    a whimsically eccentric person wordnet
  5. 10
    A fit of temper or passion.

    "Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks."

  6. 11
    Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. archaic

    "So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks."

  7. 12
    a bad-tempered person wordnet
  8. 13
    A person who is considered strange or odd by others, and may behave in unconventional ways. British, dated, informal

    "John is a crank because he talks to himself."

  9. 14
    Synonym of methamphetamine. US, slang

    "Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank."

  10. 15
    An amateur in science or other technical subjects who persistently advocates flawed theories. informal

    "That crank next door thinks he’s created cold fusion in his garage."

  11. 16
    A twist or turn in speech; word play consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word. rare

    "Quips and Cranks, and wanton Wiles,"

  12. 17
    A baseball fan. archaic, slang
  13. 18
    The penis. slang

    "It was going to be hard not to blow with a girl like her sucking on his crank."

  14. 19
    A sick person; an invalid. obsolete

    "Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater."

Verb
  1. 1
    To turn by means of a crank. transitive

    "Motorists had to crank their engine by hand."

  2. 2
    bend into the shape of a crank wordnet
  3. 3
    To turn a crank. intransitive

    "He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank."

  4. 4
    fasten with a crank wordnet
  5. 5
    To turn. intransitive

    "He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank."

Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    rotate with a crank wordnet
  2. 7
    To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank. transitive

    "I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over"

  3. 8
    start by cranking wordnet
  4. 9
    To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining. intransitive

    "Quit cranking about your spilt milk!"

  5. 10
    travel along a zigzag path wordnet
  6. 11
    To be running at a high level of output or effort. intransitive

    "By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking."

  7. 12
    To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn. dated, intransitive

    "See how this river comes me cranking in."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Dutch or Low German krank, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *krank, from Proto-Germanic *krangaz, *krankaz (“bent; weak”). Cognate with Scots crank, krank, German krank (“sick”).

Etymology 2

From Dutch or Low German krank, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *krank, from Proto-Germanic *krangaz, *krankaz (“bent; weak”). Cognate with Scots crank, krank, German krank (“sick”).

Etymology 3

From Middle English crank, cronk, from a shortening of Old English crancstæf (“weaving tool, crank”, literally “bent or crooked staff”), the first element ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.

Etymology 4

From Middle English crank, cronk, from a shortening of Old English crancstæf (“weaving tool, crank”, literally “bent or crooked staff”), the first element ultimately related to Etymology 1 above.

See also for "crank"

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