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cranking down

 - 4 dictionary results

crank

1  [krangk]
Use cranking down 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
crank (sth)

  1. tv.
    to start something up. (Probably alludes to the old style car that had to be started with a crank.) : I'll go out and crank the car up so it can warm up.
  2. tv.
    to increase the volume of an electronic device. : Kelly cranked up his stereo until we were nearly deafened.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

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
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Medical Dictionary

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