Crank Definition

krăngk
cranked, cranking, cranks, cranker, crankest
noun
cranks
A handle or arm bent at right angles and connected to a shaft of a machine, used to transmit motion or to change rotary motion into reciprocating motion, or vice versa.
Webster's New World
A person who has odd, stubborn notions about something; eccentric.
Webster's New World
An irritable, complaining person; cranky person.
Webster's New World
A fanciful or unusual turn of speech or thought; conceit.
Webster's New World
A bend or turn.
Webster's New World
verb
cranked, cranking, cranks
To start or operate by means of a crank.
Webster's New World
To form into the shape of a crank.
Webster's New World
To move or operate (a window, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
American Heritage
To turn a crank, as in starting an engine or operating a device.
Webster's New World
To provide with a crank.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
adjective
cranker, crankest
Webster's New World
Of, being, or produced by an eccentric person.
A crank letter; a crank phone call.
American Heritage
Loose and shaky.
Webster's New World
Liable to capsize; unstable.
American Heritage
High-spirited; lively.
Webster's New World
Synonyms:
idiom
crank out
  • to produce at a steady and prolific rate

    an author who cranks out bestsellers

Webster's New World
crank up
  • to get started
  • to increase, esp. to a high level, the loudness, speed, etc. of

    to crank up the volume on a stereo

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Crank

Noun

Singular:
crank
Plural:
cranks

Adjective

Base Form:
crank
Comparative:
cranker
Superlative:
crankest

Idioms, Phrasal Verbs Related to Crank

Origin of Crank

  • Middle English from Old English cranc- (as in crancstæf weaving implement)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Old English cranc

    From Wiktionary

  • Origin unknown

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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