crank
Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary
Contents |
[edit] English
[edit] Pronunciation
[edit] Etymology
[edit] Noun
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Singular |
Plural |
crank (plural cranks)
- A bent piece of an axle, or shaft, or an arm attached at right angles to the end of a shaft or wheel, used to impart a circular action to a wheel or other mechanical device and create power; also used to change circular into reciprocating motion, or reciprocating into circular motion.
- Use the crank on the motorcycle and go for a ride.
- The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft.
- Yes, a crank was all it needed to start.
- Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage.
- So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. - Spenser.
- (informal) An ill-tempered or nasty person
- Billy-Bob is a nasty, old crank! He chased my cat away.
- (US, slang) methamphetamine.
- Danny got abscesses from shooting all that bathtub crank.
- (slang, Liverpudlian, British) A person who is considered strange to others. They may do strange things, or be a crank by nature.
- John is a crank because he talks to himself.
- (rare) 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.
- (nautical) A ship which, because of insufficient or poorly stowed ballast or cargo, is in danger of overturning
[edit] Translations
an ill-tempered or nasty person
A bent piece of an axle, or shaft, or an arm attached at right angles to the end of a shaft or wheel
The act of converting power into motion, by turning a crankshaft
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Methamphetamine
Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage
A twist or turn in speech; a conceit consisting in a change of the form or meaning of a word
A ship which, because of insufficient or poorly stowed ballast or cargo, is in danger of overturning
[edit] Verb
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Infinitive |
Third person singular |
Simple past |
Past participle |
Present participle |
to crank (third-person singular simple present cranks, present participle cranking, simple past and past participle cranked)
- To turn a crank.
- Crank it up!
- He's been cranking all day and yet it refuses to crank.
- To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank.
- I turn the key and crank the engine; yet it doesn't turn over
- (Can we verify(+) this sense?) To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably.
- Quit cranking about your spilt milk!
- To produce or present a desired object.
- Crank out the beer!
- (intransitive) (dated) To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn.
- See how this river comes me cranking in. - Shakespeare
[edit] Translations
To cause to spin via other means, as though turned by a crank
To act in a cranky manner; to behave unreasonably and irritably
