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cranky

 - 9 dictionary results

crank⋅y

1  [krang-kee]
Use cranky in a Sentence
–adjective, crank⋅i⋅er, crank⋅i⋅est.
1. ill-tempered; grouchy; cross: I'm always cranky when I don't get enough sleep.
2. eccentric; queer.
3. shaky; unsteady; out of order.
4. full of bends or windings; crooked.
5. British Dialect. sickly; in unsound or feeble condition; infirm.
Origin:
1780–90; crank 1 + -y 1

Related forms:
crank⋅i⋅ly, adverb
crank⋅i⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
1. crotchety, cantankerous, perverse.

crank⋅y

2  [krang-kee]
–adjective Nautical.
crank 2 (def. 1).
Origin:
1835–45; crank 2 + -y 1

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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To cranky
crank·y 1   (krāng'kē)   
adj.   crank·i·er, crank·i·est

  1. Having a bad disposition; peevish.

  2. Having eccentric ways; odd.

  3. Full of bends and turns; crooked: a cranky mountain road.

  4. Working unpredictably; erratic: a cranky old truck.

  5. Rickety; loose.

crank'i·ly adv., crank'i·ness n.
crank·y 2   (krāng'kē)   
adj.   crank·i·er, crank·i·est Nautical
Liable to capsize.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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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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cranky

  1. mod.
    irritable; fretful. : Don't be cranky. We're almost there.
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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