crank

Definitions

1. 1.Any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. Spenser.
2. 2.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.
3. 3.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.
4. 4.A person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter. [Colloq.]
5. 5.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.
6. 6.Sick; infirm. [Prov. Eng.]
7. 7.(Naut.) Liable to careen or be overest, as a ship when she is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry full sail.
8. 8.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.
9. 9.To run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn. See how this river comes me cranking in. Shak.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "crank" mean?
• What is another word for "crank"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is crank.

• What is any bend, turn, or winding, as of a passage. So many turning cranks these have, so many crooks. Spenser called?
• What is 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 called?
• What is 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 called?
• What is a person full of crotchets; one given to fantastic or impracticable projects; one whose judgment is perverted in respect to a particular matter. [Colloq.] called?
• What is liable to careen or be overest, as a ship when she is too narrow, or has not sufficient ballast, or is loaded too high, to carry full sail called?
• What is to run with a winding course; to double; to crook; to wind and turn. See how this river comes me cranking in. Shak called?