Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
Crank - 12 dictionary results
Bike Parts USA
 BPU Your local bike shop Online Bicycles, Bike Parts & Accessories
 www.bikepartsusa.com

crank

1  [krangk]
Use Crank in a Sentence
–noun
1. Machinery. any of several types of arms or levers for imparting rotary or oscillatory motion to a rotating shaft, one end of the crank being fixed to the shaft and the other end receiving reciprocating motion from a hand, connecting rod, etc.
2. Informal. an ill-tempered, grouchy person.
3. an unbalanced person who is overzealous in the advocacy of a private cause.
4. an eccentric or whimsical notion.
5. a strikingly clever turn of speech or play on words.
6. Archaic. a bend; turn.
7. Slang. the nasal decongestant propylhexedrine, used illicitly for its euphoric effects.
8. Automotive Slang. a crankshaft.
–verb (used with object)
9. to bend into or make in the shape of a crank.
10. to furnish with a crank.
11. Machinery. to rotate (a shaft) by means of a crank.
12. to start (an internal-combustion engine) by turning the crankshaft manually or by means of a small motor.
13. to start the engine of (a motor vehicle) by turning the crankshaft manually.
–verb (used without object)
14. to turn a crank, as in starting an automobile engine.
15. Obsolete. to turn and twist; zigzag.
–adjective
16. unstable; shaky; unsteady.
17. of, pertaining to, or by an unbalanced or overzealous person: a crank phone call; crank mail.
18. British Dialect. cranky 1 (def. 5).
—Verb phrases
19. crank down, to cause to diminish or terminate: the president's efforts to crank down inflation.
20. crank in or into, to incorporate as an integral part: Overhead is cranked into the retail cost.
21. crank out, to make or produce in a mass-production, effortless, or mechanical way: She's able to crank out one best-selling novel after another.
22. crank up, Informal.
a. to get started or ready: The theater season is cranking up with four benefit performances.
b. to stimulate, activate, or produce: to crank up enthusiasm for a new product.
c. to increase one's efforts, output, etc.: Industry began to crank up after the new tax incentives became law.
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME cranke, OE cranc-, in crancstǣf crank (see staff 1 )

Related forms:
crankless, adjective

crank

2  [krangk]
–adjective Nautical.
1. Also, cranky. having a tendency to roll easily, as a boat or ship; tender (opposed to stiff ).
–noun
2. a crank vessel.
Origin:
1690–1700; prob. to be identified with crank 1 , but sense developement unclear; cf. crank-sided

crank

3  [krangk]
–adjective British Dialect.
lively; high-spirited.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME cranke, of obscure orig.

Related forms:
crankly, adverb
crankness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To Crank
crank 1   (krāngk)   
n.  
  1. A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft.
  2. A clever turn of speech; a verbal conceit: quips and cranks.
  3. A peculiar or eccentric idea or action.
  4. Informal
    1. A grouchy person.
    2. An eccentric person, especially one who is unduly zealous.
  5. Slang Methamphetamine.
v.   cranked, crank·ing, cranks

v.   tr.
    1. To start or operate (an engine, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
    2. To move or operate (a window, for example) by or as if by turning a handle.
  2. To make into the shape of a crank; bend.
  3. To provide with a handle that is used in turning.
v.   intr.
  1. To turn a handle.
  2. To wind in a zigzagging course.
adj.  Of, being, or produced by an eccentric person: a crank letter; a crank phone call.
Phrasal Verb(s):
crank outTo produce, especially mechanically and rapidly: cranks out memo after memo.
crank up
  1. To cause to start or get started as if by turning a crank: cranked up a massive publicity campaign.
  2. To cause to intensify, as in volume or force: cranks up the sound on the stereo.

[Middle English, from Old English cranc- (as in crancstæf, weaving implement).]
crank 2   (krāngk)   
adj.   Nautical
Liable to capsize; unstable.

[Origin unknown.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

Crank

Crank\ (kr?nk), n. [OE. cranke; akin to E. cringe, cringle, crinkle, and to crank, a., the root meaning, probably, "to turn, twist." See Cringe.]

1. (Mach.) 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.

2. Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.

So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. --Spenser.

3. A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.

Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles. --Milton.

4. A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim; crotchet; also, a fit of temper or passion. [Prov. Eng.]

Violent of temper; subject to sudden cranks. --Carlyle.

5. A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter. [Colloq.]

6. A sick person; an invalid. [Obs.]

Thou art a counterfeit crank, a cheater. --Burton.

Crank axle (Mach.), a driving axle formed with a crank or cranks, as in some kinds of locomotives.

Crank pin (Mach.), the cylindrical piece which forms the handle, or to which the connecting rod is attached, at the end of a crank, or between the arms of a double crank.

Crank shaft, a shaft bent into a crank, or having a crank fastened to it, by which it drives or is driven.

Crank wheel, a wheel acting as a crank, or having a wrist to which a connecting rod is attached.

Crank

Crank\ (kr?nk), a. [AS. cranc weak; akin to Icel. krangr, D. & G. krank sick, weak (cf. D. krengen to careen). Cf. Crank, n.]

1. Sick; infirm. [Prov. Eng.]

2. (Naut.) 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.

3. Full of spirit; brisk; lively; sprightly; overconfident; opinionated.

He who was, a little before, bedrid, . . . was now crank and lusty. --Udall.

If you strong electioners did not think you were among the elect, you would not be so crank about it. --Mrs. Stowe.

Crank

Crank\, v. i. [See Crank, n.] To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.

See how this river comes me cranking in. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : Crank
Spanish: chiflado, excéntrico, raro,
German: wunderlicher Kauz,
Japanese: 変人
More Translations »

crank

vt. [from automotive slang] Verb used to describe the performance of a machine, especially sustained performance. "This box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of twice that on vectorized operations."
Jargon File 4.2.0
Cite This Source

crank 
O.E. cranc- preserved only in crancstæf "a weaver's instrument," from P.Gmc. base *krank-, and related to crincan "to bend, yield." Eng. retains the literal sense of the ancient root, while Ger. and Du. krank "sick," formerly "weak, small," is a figurative use. The sense of "an eccentric person," especially one who is irrationally fixated, is first recorded 1833, said to be from the crank of a barrel organ, which makes it play the same tune over and over, but more likely a back-formation from cranky "cross-tempered, irritable" (1821), and evolving from earlier senses of "a twist or fanciful turn of speech" (1594) or "inaccessible hole or crevice" (1562). Popularized 1881 when it was applied to Horace Greeley during Guiteau's trial. The verb meaning "turning a crank" is first attested 1908, with reference to automobile engines.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Main Entry: crank
Pronunciation: 'kra[ng]k
Function: noun
: CRYSTAL 2
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source

crank
(Automotive slang) Verb used to describe the performance of a machine, especially sustained performance. "This box cranks (or, cranks at) about 6 megaflops, with a burst mode of twice that on vectorised operations."
[The Jargon File]
(1994-12-01)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Search another word or see Crank on Thesaurus | Reference
Bike Parts USA
 BPU Your local bike shop Online Bicycles, Bike Parts & Accessories
 www.bikepartsusa.com
>