crank definition | Dictionary.com

Related Searches

on Ask.com

drugs ice

Synonyms of crank

complainer, crab, faultfinder, growler, grumbler, grump, murmurer, mutterer, whiner, crazy, eccentric, lunatic

Browse Nearby Entries

crank

12 dictionary results for: crank

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

crank1

[krangk] Pronunciation Key

–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. cranky¹ (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 staff¹)

]

—Related forms

crankless, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

crank2

[krangk] Pronunciation Key

–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 crank¹, but sense developement unclear; cf. crank-sided

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

crank3

[krangk] Pronunciation Key

–adjective British Dialect.

lively; high-spirited.

[Origin: 1350–1400; ME cranke, of obscure orig.

]

—Related forms

crankly, adverb

crankness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

crank¹ (krāngk) Pronunciation Key
n.

A device for transmitting rotary motion, consisting of a handle or arm attached at right angles to a shaft.
A clever turn of speech; a verbal conceit: quips and cranks.
A peculiar or eccentric idea or action.
Informal
1. A grouchy person.
2. An eccentric person, especially one who is unduly zealous.
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.
To make into the shape of a crank; bend.
To provide with a handle that is used in turning.

v. intr.

To turn a handle.
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 out
To produce, especially mechanically and rapidly: cranks out memo after memo.
crank up

To cause to start or get started as if by turning a crank: cranked up a massive publicity campaign.
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).]

(Download Now or Buy the Book)
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

crank² (krāngk) Pronunciation Key
adj. Nautical
Liable to capsize; unstable.

[Origin unknown.]

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
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.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

crank
adjective
1.	(used of boats) inclined to heel over easily under sail
noun
1.	a bad-tempered person [syn: grouch]
2.	a whimsically eccentric person [syn: crackpot]
3.	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
4.	a hand tool consisting of a rotating shaft with parallel handle
verb
1.	travel along a zigzag path; "The river zigzags through the countryside" [syn: zigzag]
2.	start by cranking; "crank up the engine"
3.	rotate with a crank
4.	fasten with a crank
5.	bend into the shape of a crank

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing - Cite This Source - Share This

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)

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Jargon File - Cite This Source - Share This

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|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

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.

CITE THIS SOURCE|PRINT