crank

ENEnglish
//ˈkɹæŋk//

Direct German Translations & Equivalents:

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Verb Conjugation Tables & Inflections

Key Verb Forms & Inflections
Third-person singular (he/she/it):cranks
Present Participle (-ing):cranking
Past Participle:cranked
Simple Past:cranked

Definitions & Usage

adjective
#1

(dialectal) Hard; difficult.

adjective
#2

(informal) Strange; weird; odd.

adjective
#3

(dialectal) Bent; twisted; crooked; distorted; out of repair.

adjective
#4

Sick; unwell.

Synonyms:
adjective
#5

(nautical, of a ship) Liable to capsize because of poorly stowed cargo or insufficient ballast.

adjective
#6

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

noun
#7

(now chiefly dialectal) An ailment, ache.

noun
#8

(informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person.

Example: Billy-Bob is a nasty old crank! He chased my cat away.
noun
#9

A twist or turn of the mind; caprice; whim;

noun
#10

A fit of temper or passion.

noun
#11

(informal, British, dated in US) A person who is considered strange or odd by others, and may behave in unconventional ways.

Example: John is a crank because he talks to himself.
noun
#12

(informal) An amateur in science or other technical subjects who persistently advocates flawed theories.

Example: That crank next door thinks he’s created cold fusion in his garage.
noun
#13

(archaic, baseball, slang, 1800s) A baseball fan.

noun
#14

(obsolete) A sick person; an invalid.

noun
#15

A bent piece of an axle or shaft, or an attached arm perpendicular, or nearly so, to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a rotation to a wheel or other mechanical device; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.

Example: I grind my coffee by hand with a coffee grinder with a crank handle.
noun
#16

The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.

Example: Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
Example: Give it a forceful crank.
noun
#17

(archaic) Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.

Example: So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks.
Translations:
noun
#18

(US, slang) Synonym of methamphetamine.

Example: Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
noun
#19

(rare) A twist or turn in speech; word play consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word.

Translations:
verb
#21

(transitive) To turn by means of a crank.

Example: Motorists had to crank their engine by hand.
Translations:[DE]ankurbeln
verb
#22

(intransitive) To turn a crank.

Example: He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
Translations:[DE]kurbeln
verb
#23

(intransitive, of a crank or similar) To turn.

Example: He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
verb
#24

(transitive) To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.

Example: I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
Example: Crank it up!
Translations:
verb
#25

(intransitive) To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably, especially through complaining.

Example: Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
Translations:
verb
#26

(intransitive) To be running at a high level of output or effort.

Example: By one hour into the shift, the boys were really cranking.
verb
#27

(intransitive, dated) To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.

Notable Literary & Historical Quotes

This ship is so crank and walty I fear our grave she will be!

1863, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Phantom Ship:

The stowage was clumsily done, and the vessel consequently crank.

1833, Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle:

He who was a little before bedred[…]was now cranke and lustie.

1548, Nicolas Udall, The first tome or volume of the Paraphrase of Erasmus vpon the newe testamente:

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